tihxaxy  of  Che  Cheolojical  ^tmimxy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


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BR  155  .C53  1889  i 

Clarke,  James  Freeman,  1810 

1888. 
Events  and  epochs  in 

reliaious  historv 


^ 


EVENTS     AND     EPOCHS     IN 
RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 


Metrical     Scale- 


Gkouni»  Plan  of  the  Cemetery  of  Callixtus. 


EVENTS     AND    EPOCHS    IN 
RELIGIOUS    HISTORY: 


BEING  THE  SUBSTANCE  OF 


a  Course  of  Ciuellie  lecturer 

DELIVERED   IN   THE   LOWELL   INSTITUTE, 
BOSTON,    IN    1880, 


BY 


u^ 


JAMES  FREEMAN   CLARKE, 

AUTHOR  OF  "TEN  GREAT  RELIGIONS,"    "COMMON  SENSE   IN  KEI.IGION."  "STEPS 

OF  BELIEF,"   "TRUTHS  AND  ERRORS  OF  ORTHODOXY,"  "SELF-CULTURE," 

"EXOTICS,"  "THOMAS    DIDYMUS,"    "  EVERY-DAY  RELIGION,"  ETC. 


Out  of  these  convertites 
There  is  much  matter  to  be  heard  and  learned. 

Jacques,  in  ^' As  Vou  Like  It.'''' 


FOURTH  EDITION. 


BOSTON  AND    NEW  YORK  : 
HOUGHTON,  ^^FFLIN  AND   COMPANY. 

1889. 


Copyright,  1881, 
By  James  R.  Osgood  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved. 


TO 

WILLIAM     GREENLEAF     ELIOT, 

COMPANION   OF  THEOLOGICAL   STUDY   IN   YOUTH  ; 

FELLOW- WORKER    IN   CHRISTIAN   LABORS 

IN    EARLY    MANHOOD; 

AND   FRIEND    IN   ALL  THE  EXPERIENCES  OF   LIFE, — 

IS  LOVINGLY  DEDICATED. 


NOTE. 


This  book  is  composed  of  a  course  of  lectures  given  by 
the  author  in  the  Lowell  Institute,  Boston,  in  January, 
1880.  By  the  permission  of  the  Trustee  they  are  here 
pul)lishe(l,  but  with  some  additions  and  alterations. 

There  is  nothing  more  interesting  to  us  than  the  relig- 
ious experiences  of  those  great  souls  who  have  helped  to 
lead  the  human  race  up  nearer  to  God.  This  collection  of 
sketches  may  inspire  in  some  persons  the  wish  to  make 
a  more  serious  study  of  the  lives  and  events  of  which 
little  more  than  an  outline  could  be  given  in  the  present 

work. 

J.  F.  C. 

NoVFMnF.B,  1881. 


\ 

\ 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

THE    CATACOMBS. 


Page 

§  1.    Introduction.     Outline  of  the  Lectures 1 

2.  What  are  the  Catacombs  ? 4 

3.  First  period.     The  Catacombs  as  Cemeteries    ....  6 

4.  Second  period.     The  Catacombs  in  the  age  of  Martyr- 

dom ;  as  retreats  from  persecution,  and  as  places  of 

worship 11 


THE    CATACOMBS. 

§  1.   Third  period  of   the   Catacombs.     The   Catacombs  as 

sacred  phices 18 

2.  Monograms  and  Pictures  in  the  Catacombs       ....       21 

3.  Epigraphs  and  Inscriptions  in  the  Catacombs  ....       27 

4.  Belief    of    the   early   Christians   as   deduced   from   the 

Catacombs 38 

III. 

THE   BUDDHIST   MONKS    OF    CENTRAL    ASIA. 

§  1.    Sakya-Muni  and  his  religious  system 46 

2.    Father  Hue's  description  of  the  monasteries  in  Tartary 

and  Thibet      .     .  50 


X        '  CONTENTS. 

3.  Resemblances  between  the  Buddhist  and  Roman  Catho- 

lic rituals 58 

4.  Inscriptions  of  King  Asoka,  276  B.C.    Their  high  moral 

tone 61 

5.  Buddhist  Monastic  Life  in  Ceylon,  Burmah,  China,  etc.       63 

6.  Buddhist  Architecture.      Rock-cut   Temples  and  Mon- 

asteries   67 

7.  Spirit  of  Buddhism.     Its  Merits  and  Defects.     Its  sup- 

posed denial  of  God  and  Immortality 75 


IV. 

THE    CHRISTIAN    MONKS    AND    MONASTIC    LIFE. 

§  1.    Original  Christianity  not  Monastic 82 

2.  Beginning  of  Christian  Monasticism.     The  Anchorites.  84 

3.  The  Anchorites  take  the  place  of  the  Martyrs  ....  86 

4.  The  Monks  collected  into  Communities 88 

5.  Monasticism  among  the  Brahmans  in  India,  800  B.C.  89 

6.  The  Monks  in  Convents.     St.  Benedict  and  his  Rule.  92 

7.  The  Mendicant  Orders.     St.  Dominic  and  St.  Francis.  98 

8.  The  Monastic  tendency  in  Protestantism 112 

9.  The  Lessons  of  Monasticism 117 


V. 

AUGUSTINE,    ANSELM,    BERNARD,    AND    THEIR    TIMES. 

§  1.    Introduction 123 

2.  The  Life  of  Augustine,  as  described  in  his  "Confessions."     123 

3.  His  Longing  for  Truth.     Influence  of  Cicero.      Mani- 

cheism 127 

4.  His  conversion.     Influence  of  Plato 131 

5.  The  Doctrine  of  Augustine 136 

6.  The  times  of  Augustine.     Character  and  permanence  of 

his  Influence 139 

7.  Anselm.     Character  of  the  Eleventh  Century   ....     142 

8.  Anselm's  Religious  Meditations  and  Prayers.    His  Work 

and  Study  in  the  Convent 146 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

9.    Anselm   as   Archbishop  of   Canterbury.      His  Conflict 

with  the  King.     Exile  and  Return 149 

10.  Ansehn  as  Metaphysician  and  Tlieologian 151 

11.  St.  Bernard.     Feudalism.     Bernard  joins  the  Cistercian 

Monks   and   founds   the   Abbey   of    Clairvaux.     His 
Austerities  and  Miracles 157 

12.  Bernard  rebukes  Kings,  Popes,  and  Prelates,  and  settles 

by  his  authority  disputes  in  tlie  Church  and  State  .     .     IGO 

13.  He  preaches  the  Second  Crusade;  opposes  the  persecu- 

tion of  the  Jews;  admonishes  the  Pope  of  his  duties  .     164 

14.  Augustine,   Anselm,   and  Bernard  the  Property  of  the 

whole  Chui'ch,  Catholic  and  Protestant 165 


VI. 

JEANNE     d'aRC. 

§  1.  Sources  of  Information  concerning  her.     State  of  France 

when  she  appeared 167 

2.  Her  Early  Life  and  her  Visions 170 

3.  She   departs   on   her   Mission   to   deliver  France  when 

Seventeen  Years  Old 175 

4.  Being   accepted   by  the  King,  she  raises   the   siege   of 

Orleans 179 

5.  Further  Campaigns  and  Victories.     The  King  Crowned 

at  Reims 184 

6.  She  is  taken  prisoner  by  the  Burgundians,  and  sold  to 

the  English 190 

7.  Trial,  Condemnation,  Execution,  Rehabilitation  .     .     .     192 


VII. 

SAVONAROLA   AND    THE    RENAISSANCE. 

§  1.    Changes  in  Europe  from  the  time  of  Jeanne  D'Arc  to 

that  of  Savonarola.     The  Renaissance 213 

2.    Early  Life  of  Savonarola.     His  Preaching  in  Florence   .     221 


XU  CONTENTS. 

3.  Invasion  of  Italy  by  Charles  VIII.     Savonarola's  services 

to  the  City 226 

4.  Opposition   to   Savonarola.     The   Pope  forbids  him  to 

Preach 230 

5.  The  Ordeal.     Savonarola  seized  and  imprisoned    .     .     .     233 

6.  The  Death  and  Character  of  Savonarola 234 


VIII. 

LUTHER   AND    THE   REFORMATION. LOYOLA   AND    THE   JESUITS. 

§  1.    Introduction.     Early  Life  of  Luther 241 

2.  Luther  at  Wittenberg.     His  doctrine  of  Justification     .     244 

3.  Luther  opposes  the  Sale  of   Indulgences.     He  appears 

before  the  Diet  of  Worms 246 

4.  Results  of  his  Labors.     The  Protestant  Reformation  a 

necessity  and  a  blessing 252 

5.  Character  of  Luther.     Extracts  from  his  Writings  and 

Conversation 256 

6.  Early  Life  and  Conversion  of  Loyola 262 

7.  The  "  Society  of  Jesus."     Its  history  and  character  .     .  265 

8.  Work   of   Luther   and   Loyola  compared.      Results  of 

both " 271 


IX. 


THE   MYSTICS    IN   ALL   RELIGIONS. 

§  1.    Wide  spread  of  Mysticism.     Its  definition.     Mysticism 

in  India  and  Persia 275 

2.  The  New  Platonists.     The  Scholastic  Mystics.     German 

Mystics  in  the  Fourteenth  Century.     Jacob  Boehme  .     278 

3.  Fenelon   and   Madame   Guion.      The   Thaumaturgists. 

Swedenborg     .     .  282 

4.  American   Mystics.      Ralph   Waldo   Emerson.      Jones 

Very.     Conclusion 291 


CONTENTS.  Xiii 

X. 

GEORGE    FOX    AND    THE   QUAKERS. 

§  1.    The  Quaker  movement  a  remarkable  one,  having  in  it 

the  Seed  of  many  Modern  Reforms 299 

2.  George  Fox,  the  Founder  of  Quakerism.    His  Experiences     301 

3.  He  goes  forth   teacliing  the  doctrine  of   the  Universal 

Inner  Light 309 

4.  His  Sufferings  and  Persecutions 312 

5.  Character  of  Fox.     Source  of  his  Influence      ....  317 

6.  Doctrines  of   Quakerism,  as  developed  by  Barclay  and 

Tenn 319 

7.  Subsequent  history.     Followers  of  Fox.     Testimony  of 

Moehler,  Bancroft,  Charles  Lamb,  Frederick  Maurice, 
and  Whittier 321 

XL 

THE   HUGUENOTS. 

§  1.    Protestantism  in   France  until  the  Revocation  of  the 

Edict  of  Nantes 326 

2.  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  persecution  of 

the  Protestants 329 

3.  Protestantism  in  the  South  of  France.    The  Albigenses  in 

the  Thirteenth  Century.     The  War  of  the  Camisards     335 

4.  The  C;ise  of  Calas  in  17G2 343 

5.  Descendants  of  Huguenots  in  England  and  America      .     345 

XIL 

JOHN   WESLEY    AND    HIS    TIMES. 

§  1.    Early  Life  of  Wesley.     His  Parents.     Oxford.     ...     351 

2.  Goes  to  America.     The  Moravians.     His  new  view  of 

Faith 356 

3.  The  Parting  of  the  Ways.     His  New  System  ....     361 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

4.  Influence  of  his  Preaching.     The  New  Methods.     Field- 

preaching.    Lay-preaching.    Itinerancy.     Class-meet- 
ings   364 

5.  Opposition  to  Methodism.    Persecution  of  the  Preachers    375 

6.  Great    Influence   of    Wesley.      Spread  of    Methodism. 

Benefit  of  this  Reform 377 

7.  Wesley's  Conversion  from  Ritualism  the  Turning-point 

in  his  whole  Career 380 

8.  Methodist  Hymns.     Conclusion .    384 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE   PLATES. 


Pago 
Plate  T.  —  Ground  Plan  of  the  Cemetery  of 

St.  Calixtus Frontispiece. 

This  plate  is  taken  by  the  heliotype  process  from  one  in  the  "  Roma 
SotttTunea  "  of  Nortiicote  and  Brownlow  (London,  1879).  This 
hirge  underground  cemetery  is  composed  of  several  groups  of 
excavations.  The  entrance  is  on  the  Appian  Way,  about  two 
miles  from  Rome,  on  the  road  to  Albano.  The  cemetery  was 
discovered  by  De  Rossi  about  the  year  1849,  and  De  Rossi's  ex- 
plorations and  surveys  have  given  us  our  knowledge  of  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  these  extensive  subterranean  catacombs.  The 
different  cemeteries  are  distinguished  in  this  plan  by  different 
shades  of  color.  Area  I.  is  the  crypt  of  Lucina,  and  had  a  front- 
age of  one  hundred  feet  on  the  Appian  Way,  extending  backward 
{in  (iijro)  two  Innidrcd  and  thirty  feet.  This  crypt  derives  its 
name  from  a  statement  in  the  ecclesiastical  records  that  the 
ground  above  was  tlie  property  of  a  Christian  Koman  lady  called 
Lucina.  The  tomb  of  Pope  Cornelius,  of  the  third  century,  was 
here.  This  cemetery  was  constructed  on  three  planes,  or  floors, 
one  above  another.  The  passages  in  the  upper  ])i(ino,  or  plane, 
are  made  darker  than  those  below.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the 
white  passages  run  below  the  darker  ones.  The  blackest  lines 
indicate  masonr.v  above  or  below  ground.  Two  chapels,  built 
above  the  cemeteries,  are  also  marked  on  the  plan,  — one  a  three- 
apsed  chapel  of  St.  Sixtus,  the  otlier  of  St.  Soteris.  The  funeral 
chambers  are  seen  on  each  side  of  the  passages.  The  small 
squares,  white  inside,  mark  the  hnninaria,  or  openings  for  light. 
Thoutfh  the  whole  of  the  cemetery  bears  the  name  of  Calixtus, 
the  different  areas  were  probal)ly  quite  distin(;t,  and  belong  to  dif- 
ferent periods.  Area  I.  (the  crypt  of  Lucina)  dates  back  to  the 
second  and  third  century.  Area  II.  is  without  a  name,  and  is  of 
about  the  same  period.  Area  III.  is  the  cemetery  of  Calixtus  and 
St.  Cecilia,  and  her  name  on  the  plan  sliows  the  s])ot  where  her 
body  was  found.  Arens  IV.,  V.,  and  VI.  bi'long  to  the  same 
cemetery,  but  were  added  afterward.     Areas  VII.,  VIII.,  and  IX. 


XVI  DESCEIPTION  OF  THE  PLATES. 

are  parts  of  the  cemetery  of  St.  Soteris,  of  the  third  and  fourth 
century.  The  other  areas  are  later.  The  larger,  irregular  passa- 
ges seen  in  different  parts  of  the  plan  are  the  arenaria,  or  sand- 
pits, which  communicated  with  the  catacombs,  and  in  times  of 
persecution  gave  an  opportunity  of  escape.  Most  of  these  passa- 
ges and  chambers  are  excavated  from  the  living  rock.  The 
lowest  piano  is,  in  some  parts,  forty  feet  below  the  surface. 

Plate  II.  —  The  Catacombs      .     .  .....  .19 

Fig.  1.  This  is  a  restoration,  by  De  Rossi,  of  the  Papal  crypt  m 
the  cemetery  of  St.  Calixtus,  which,  when  discovered,  was  in 
ruins.  The  great  antiquarian  knowledge  of  De  Rossi  has  enabled 
him  to  restore  it  in  this  sketch  with  probable  accuracy.  We  see 
the  place  of  the  altar,  with  the  Bishop's  chair  of  stone  behind ; 
both  surrounded  by  a  balustrade  of  marble,  partly  solid,  partly  of 
pierced  lattice-work,  and  terminated  at  one  end  by  a  Hermes 
with  a  female  head.  Fragments  of  these  stones  were  found 
among  the  rubbish.  The  graves  on  the  sides  of  the  crypt  have 
the  names  of  the  popes  supposed  to  have  been  buried  here.  Some 
of  these  inscribed  stones  were  found  in  fragments  on  the  floor  of 
the  crypt,  and  fac-similes  of  the  inscriptions  upon  them  are  given 
by  Northcote,  and  bear  the  names  of  four  or  five  of  the  bishops 
of  Rome  of  the  third  century.  The  authenticity  of  these  relics 
has  been  doubted,  but  it  is  not  improbable  that  this  crypt  con- 
tained the  bodies  of  several  of  the  early  popes.  It  will  be  found 
on  the  Plan  of  the  Cemetery  (Plate  I.),  in  Area  III.,  marked  L, 
near  the  crypt  of  St.  Cecilia.  The  stairs  on  the  plan,  which  now 
lead  down  to  it  from  above,  were  probably  built  by  Pope  Damasus 
in  the  fourth  century. 

Fig.  2.  This  represents  a  church  discovered  in  1854,  and  disinterred 
by  De  Rossi  in  1873.  It  was  built,  as  is  believed,  by  the  suc- 
cessor of  Pope  Damasus,  in  the  catacomb  of  Domitilla,  in  honor 
of  the  two  martyrs  Nereus  and  Achilleus,  and  of  Petronilla. 
Domitilla  was  a  near  relative  of  the  Emperor  Domitian,  proba- 
bly his  cousin,  and  niece  of  Vespasian,  and  was  a  member,  there- 
fore, of  the  great  Flavian  family.  She  was  banished,  for  being  a 
Christian,  to  the  island  of  Ponza,  near  Ischia.  This  fact  is  men- 
tioned by  Dio  Cassius  and  Eusebius,  and  tradition  describes  the 
cemetery  of  Domitilla  as  being  below  a  farm  which  belonged  to 
this  noble  Roman  matron,  and  adds  that  her  chamberlains  Nereus 
and  Achilleus,  martyrs  for  their  Christian  faith,  were  buried  in 
this  place.  This  church,  erected  over  the  remains  of  these  mar- 
tyrs, was  a  large  Basilica,  about  one  hundred  feet  by  sixty,  and 
its  roof  must  have  appeared  above-ground,  while  its  foundations 
were  on  the  second  plane  of  the  catacomb.  It  had  a  nave  and 
two  side-aisles,  the  latter  separated  from  the  nave  by  four  col- 
umns, of  wliich  the  bases  may  be  seen  in  the  plan.    A  fragment 


DESCKIITION    OF   THE   PLATES.  XVll 

of  stone  contained  an  inscription  to  tlie  memory  of  the  two  ser- 
vants of  Domitilla ;  and  bc'liind  the  apse  was  a  small  chamber 
with  a  picture  of  Petronilhi,  an  early  C.'liristian  martyr  and  mem- 
ber of  the  great  Aurelian  family.  There  is  a  homily  in  the  works 
of  Gregory  the  Great  "dt-livered  before  the  tombs  of  SS.  Nereiis 
and  Achilleus,"  and  which  may  therefore  have  been  preached  in 
this  very  church. 

Plate  III.  —  The  Catacombs 22 

Fig.  1.  This  illustration  is  of  one  of  the  walls  of  a  Cubiculum  orna- 
mented with  fresco  paintings.  The  upper  group  in  the  centre 
represents  the  seven  discij)les  parUiking  of  the  fishes,  as  described 
in  the  last  chapter  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.  The  seven  baskets  are 
supposed  to  contain  the  fishes,  and  the  two  rings  above  them  are 
the  bread.  This  feast  by  the  Lake  of  Tiberias  was  a  favorite 
subject,  and  is  believed  by  Northcote,  following  ancient  writers, 
to  denote  the  Eucharist.  But  how  can  bread  and  fish  represent 
bread  and  wine  ?  And  how  can  seven  disciples  represent  twelve? 
The  symbolical  meaning  of  this  picture  was  probably  the  spiritual 
nourishment  given  by  Christ  to  the  soul.  On  the  right  are  repre- 
sented Abraham  and  Isaac,  with  the  ram  and  fagot  of  wood  for 
the  sacrifice.  Abraliam  and  Isaac  are  in  the  attitude  of  grateful 
homage  for  deliverance.  On  tlie  other  side,  with  a  tripod  support- 
ing food  between  them,  are  two  figures,  — one  blessing  the  bread, 
the  other  returning  thanks.  Below,  one  figure  represents  the 
paralytic  man  carrying  his  bed  ;  another,  in  the  middle,  indicates 
the  baptism  of  a  believer.  The  figure  catching  the  fish  shows 
the  conversion  of  a  soul ;  and  that  on  the  left  is  of  Moses  striking 
the  rock.  Jonah  —  umler  the  shadow  of  the  gourd,  being  cast 
out  to  the  fish,  and  being  restored  again  —  was  a  favorite  type  of 
trial  and  deliverance.  All  these  figures  appear  repeatedly  on  the 
walls. 

Fig.  2  represents  a  cubiculum,  or  small  chamber,  as  most  of  them 
looked  wlien  discovered.  The  graves  had  been  opened,  and  the 
bodies  taken  away,  —  probably  for  relics  to  be  distributed  through 
the  churches. 

Plate  IV.  —  The  Catacombs 40 

These  two  figures  are  reproduced  from  the  photographs  of  Mr.  Par- 
ker in  his  works  on  the  "  Roman  Tombs  "  and  "  Tlie  Catacombs." 

Fig.  1  represents  two  sarcophagi  found  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Peter, 
and  now  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  In  tlie  upper  portion,  the  group 
on  the  left  shows  the  sacrifice  of  Abraham  ;  that  on  the  right  is 
Pilate  washing  his  hands.  In  the  middle  division  is  Christ  with 
l*eter  and  ]'aul  on  each  side,  to  one  of  whom  he  is  giving  a  roll. 
The  figure  below  the  feet  of  Jesus,  holding  a  veil  over  her  head, 


XVIU  DESCRIPTION   OF  THE  PLATES. 

is  said  by  Northcote  to  signify  the  vault  of  Heaven ;  by  others  to 
mean  Tellus,  or  the  Earth.  The  slab  below  shows,  in  the  middle, 
Jesus  as  the  Good  Shepherd,  carrying  a  lamb  on  his  shoulders. 
This  figure  is  repeated  on  each  side.  The  rest  of  the  space  is 
filled  with  the  vine,  and  children  gathering  grapes,  milking  a  goat, 
and  treading  the  grapes  in  a  wine-press.  Some  of  the  children 
have  wings,  signifying  their  angelic  character.  The  whole  indi- 
cates the  cheerful  type  of  early  Christianity.  This  sarcophagus 
belongs  to  the  period  of  Constantine. 
Fig.  2  shows  us  in  the  upper  part  a  group  of  figures.  On  the  left 
are  Adam  and  Eve  being  expelled  from  Paradise.  The  small 
figures  are  those  who  are  healed  by  Jesus,  one  carrying  his  bed, 
one  having  his  eyes  cured.  Peter  is  indicated  by  the  cock;  and, 
in  all  these  situations  Jesus  is  shown  as  a  youth  without  a  beard 
and  witli  a  cheerful  expression  of  countenance.  Below,  we  have 
a  carved  slab,  divided  into  five  compartments  by  twisted  Corin- 
thian pillars.  In  the  central  division  is  the  labarum,  or  military 
standard  adopted  by  Constantine.  It  is  a  cross  with  a  wreath 
above  it  including  the  Christian  monogram,  with  doves  pecking 
at  the  crown,  and  two  soldiers  watching  below.  On  the  right  is 
Jesus  making  a  good  confession  before  Pilate.  On  the  other  side 
Jesus  is  carrying  his  cross,  and  a  soldier  placing  a  crown  over  his 
head. 

Plate  V. -—Buddhist  Rock-cut  Temples.     (Fergusson)    .      46 

Fig.  1  is  a  general  view  of  the  caves  at  Ajunta,  showing  how  they 

are  excavated  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  where  a  stratum  of  rock  of 

suflicient  thickness  crops  out. 
Fig.  2  shows  a  Buddhist  Vihara,  or  Monastery,  excavated  in  the 

solid  rock.     Tills  is  numbered  17  hy  Fergusson.     The  figure  of 

Buddha  appears  in  the  interior  hall. 

Plate  VI. — Buddhist  Rock-cut  Temples 50 

A  view  of  the  Lanka,  at  Ellora.  There  are  thirty  excavations  at 
Ellora,  of  which  ten  are  the  work  of  the  Buddhists  and  fourteen 
of  the  Brahmans,  and  the  other  six  vary  from  both.  This  indi- 
cates the  period  when  these  religions  existed  together  in  peace, 
before  the  religious  wars  which  ended  in  the  expulsion  of  the 
Buddhists  from  India. 

Plate  VII.  —  Buddhist  Rock-cut  Temples   .....      62 

This  plate  shows  the  exterior  and  interior  of  a  Chaitya,  or  church- 
cave,  at  Ajunta,  on  the  western  side  of  Central  India,  near  Surat. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  temple-caves.  Like 
the  others,  it  is  a  monolith. 


DESCRIPTION    OF   THE   PLATES.  XIX 

Plate  VIII.  —  Buddhist  Rock-cut  Templks 68 

Fi^.  1  is  a  reproduction  of  tlie  j^reat  cave-temple  at  Karli,  exca- 
vated B.  C.  1G3.  It  is  one  of  the  largest,  and  is  described  in  the 
text. 

Fig.  2  is  called  tho  Kylas,  a  highly  ornamented  temple  at  Kllora. 
This  splendid  temple  is  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  the  Brahmans. 

Plate  IX.  —  Buddhist  Temples 72 

This  is  the  ground-plan  of  a  Buddhist  monastery  at  Ajunta,  and  is 
described  in  the  text. 

Plate  X.  —  Christian  Monasteries 97 

Ground  ])lan  of  the  Abbey  of  Clairvaux,  founded  by  St.  Bernard. 
This,  and  the  other  illustrations  of  the  Christian  monasteries,  are 
taken  from  the  "  Dictiomiaire  Kaisomic'  de  L'Architecture  Fran- 
vaise  du  XP  au  XVI^'  Sietle,"  par  VioUet-le-Duc.  Paris,  1858. 
This  plate  is  explained  in  the  text. 

Plate  XI.  —  Christian  Monasteries 99 

Abbey  of  Citeaux,  head  monastery  of  the  Cistercians.  See  text  for 
the  description. 

Plate  XII.  —  Christian  Monasteries 103 

Monastery  of  the  Augustines,  near  Brussels.     Described  in  the  text. 

Plate  XIII.  —  Christian  Monasteries 105 

Abbey  of  St.  Allyre  in  Auvergne.  An  example  of  a  fortified  mon- 
astery.    Described  in  the  text. 

Plate  XIV.  —  Christian  Monasteries 107 

The  Chartreuse  of  Clermont.     Described  in  the  text. 

Plate  XV. — Jeanne  d'Arc 1G9 

Fig.  1.  The  home  of  Jeanne  d'Arc  at  Domremy.  Taken  from  the 
illustrated  edition  of  her  life  by  II.  Wallon.  Paris.  187().  This 
gives  the  building  as  it  existed,  unchanged,  in  1819.  Here,  in 
the  garden,  by  the  side  of  the  church,  Jeanne  heard  her  Voices 
speaking  to  her  when  she  was  thirteen  years  old. 

Fig.  2  represents  the  Church  at  Provins  in  its  actual  state.  On  the 
left  is  the  Great  Tower,  a  curious  fortress  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. At  the  right  is  the  church  of  St.  Quiriacus,  built  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  The  King  and  Jeanne  heard 
mass  in  this  church.     Provins  is  sixty  miles  southwest  of  Paris. 


XX  DESCRIPTION   OF  THE  PLATES. 

Plate  XVI. — Jeanne  d'Arc 181 

This  is  a  map  of  the  region  around  Orleans,  showing  the  campaign 
conducted  by  the  heroine. 

Plate  XVII.  —  Jeanne  d'Arc 189 

Letter  of  Jeanne  to  the  inhabitants  of  Riom,  Nov.  9,  1429. 
Described  in  the  text. 

Plate  XVIII.  — Jeanne  d'Arc 201 

Cemetery  of  the  Church  of  St.  Ouen  at  Rouen. 

Plate  XIX.  —  Jeanne  d'Arc 204 

Fac-simile  of  the  official  record  of  Jeanne's  last  answers,  in  which 
she  retracts  her  abjuration. 

Plate  XX.  —  Savonarola 222 

Fig.  1  is  a  portrait  of  the  Friar  from  a  bronze  medal  in  the  Gallery 
at  Florence,  engraved  for  the  "  Life  of  Savonarola,"  by  Pasquale 
Villari,  whicli  was  translated  into  English  by  Leonard  Horner  ; 
London,  1863.  This  portrait  was  probably  executed  when  he 
was  older  tlian  at  the  period  indicated  in  the  other. 

Fig.  2  is  a  portrait  of  Savonarola,  from  the  "  Life  and  Martyrdom 
of  Savonarola,"  by  R.  R.  Madden  ;  London,  1854.  It  is  from  a 
gem  engraved  by  Giovanni  delle  Corniole,  —  so  called  because 
many  of  liis  best  works  were  executed  in  carnelian.  This  gem 
is  in  the  Royal  Gallery  at  Florence.  It  is  considered  the  best 
likeness  of  Savonarola  extant. 


EVENTS    AND    EPOCHS    IN    RELIGIOUS 

HISTORY. 


THE   CATACOMBS. 

§  1.  Introduction.  Outline  of  the  Lectures. — Those  Avho 
have  attended  previous  courses  of  the  Lowell  Lectures  this 
winter  have  listened  to  the  interestinj^  accounts,  by  accom- 
plished scientists,  of  the  changes,  revolutions,  sudden  catas- 
trophes, or  gentle  secular  processes,  by  which  the  globe  on 
which  we  live  has  reached  its  present  condition.  They 
have  been  told  of  the  dark  subterranean  movements  which 
have  lifted  continents  above  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  of 
long  periods  in  which  new  strata  have  been  deposited 
over  immense  regions,  of  sudden  outpourings  of  terrestial 
fire  in  one  epoch,  of  vast  accumulations  of  glacial  ice  in 
another.  But  there  is  another  world  in  which  analogous 
changes  have  taken  place,  and  that  is  the  world  of  human 
thought  and  action.  Here  also  there  have  been  long  peri- 
ods of  slow  development,  followed  by  sudden  catastrophes. 
Here,  too,  there  have  been  subterranean  movements,  work- 
ing silently  during  many  centuries,  which  have  finally 
lifted  to  the  light  and  air  new  forms  of  civilization.  Dur- 
ing some  periods  of  human  history  the  mind  of  man  has 
seemed  gradually  to  freeze  in  routine,  through  a  long  gla- 
cial epoch  of  dead  forms  and  empty  repetitions ;  and  then 
has  come  a  fiery  outbreak  of  new  conviction,  of  living  i'aitli, 
melting  in  a  brief  period  all  these  icy  customs,  and  pre- 


2  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

paring  the  way  for  a  new  earth,  more  green  and  fair  than 
ever  before.  Of  some  of  these  critical  periods  I  propose 
to  speak  in  this  course  of  lectures. 

I  have  chosen  as  the  title  for  these  lectures,  "Events 
and  Epochs  in  Eeligious  History."  This  title  suits  my 
design,  because  under  it  I  can  include  some  of  the  most 
striking  and  curious  persons  and  movements,  not  only 
within  Christian  history,  but  outside  of  it.  My  purpose  is 
to  call  your  attention  to  certain  points  of  paramount  inter- 
est in  the  history  of  religion.  I  shall  speak  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  in  its  humble  beginnings,  and  of  the  curious 
phenomena  of  monastic  institutions,  first  appearing  in  Ethnic 
religions,  and  afterward  reappearing  in  Christianity.  I  shall 
say  something  of  the  great  thinkers,  and  heroes  of  faith, 
around  whose  lives,  as  on  an  axis,  the  history  of  human 
life  has  turned,  and  who  have  sometimes  directed  the  main 
currents  of  human  thought  through  many  centuries.  The 
tendency  of  scientific  study  in  our  time  has  perhaps  led  us 
to  undervalue  the  influence  of  such  great  souls.  History 
has  been  believed  to  advance  according  to  definite  laws, 
over  which  neither  human  genius  nor  human  freedom  has 
exerted  any  appreciable  influence.  But  even  Mr.  Buckle, 
while  attempting  to  explain  national  character  as  the  result 
of  circumstances,  and  while  laying  down  as  a  fundamental 
position  that  History  and  Biograpliy  are  wholly  different 
in  their  spheres,  has  occupied  a  very  large  and  a  very  inter- 
esting part  of  his  history  with  the  biographies  of  Adam 
Smith,  Voltaire,  Burke,  Montesquieu,  Bossuet,  Bichat,  Hut- 
ton,  CuUen,  and  others.  I  shall  call  your  attention  to  the 
vast  influence  exerted  on  the  course  of  events  by  such  per- 
sonalities as  Augustine,  Anselm,  St.  Bernard,  Savonarola, 
Luther,  Loyola,  and  Wesley.  Subtract  from  history  names 
like  these,  and  its  course  would  cease  to  be  intelligible. 

I  shall  speak  first  of  the  Christian  Church,  while  it  was 


TUE    C.\TA(;0M1{S.  3 

under  ground,  before  it  came  into  light  and  air.  Great 
soul-movements  are  apt  to  be  like  plants,  having  their 
rudimental  life  in  darkness.  Unseen  by  man,  unknown  to 
history,  this  very  obscurity  of  their  origin  is  an  important 
condition  of  their  free  development.  As  they  have  noth- 
ing to  hope  or  fear  from  the  api)robatiou  or  criticism  of  the 
world,  they  can  unfuld  tlieniselves  according  to  their  own 
law  of  being.  In  silence  and  darkness  they  take  the  direc- 
tion wliieh  they  are  intended  to  pursue ;  and  when  they 
appear  at  last  before  mankind,  they  have  passed  from  in- 
fancy into  the  bone  and  sinew  of  manhood. 

The  period  of  which  I  now  speak  was  the  underground 
age  of  Cliristianity ;  but  it  seems  to  be  a  law  that  there  is 
nothing  covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed,  nor  anything 
hid  that  shall  not  be  known. 

Two  thousand  years  before  Christ,  some  Egyptian  priests 
who  had  been  paid  large  sums  to  embalm  the  body  of  a 
royal  princess,  put  into  her  splendid  mummy-case  the  body 
of  a  common  Egyptian,  dipt  in  asphaltum.  They  laughed 
over  it,  I  suppose,  saying  it  would  make  no  difference,  for 
it  would  never  be  known.  But  after  forty  centuries  had 
passed,  the  case  was  opened  by  Gliddon  and  Agassiz  in 
the  Tremont  Temple  in  Boston  before  a  large  audience, 
and  the  cheat  was  detected.  It  may  have  added  a  pang  to 
the  sufferings  of  the  faithful  Roman  sentinel  who  stood  at 
his  post  before  tlie  gate  of  Pompeii  till  he  was  gradually 
buried  in  the  burning  ashes,  that  no  one  would  ever  hear 
of  his  fidelity.  After  fifteen  hunch'ed  years  the  city  was 
excavated ;  and  tlie  skeleton  of  the  soldier,  in  his  rusty 
corselet,  was  found.  Many  centuries  of  oblivion  rested  on 
Egypt,  Troy,  Assyria,  and  the  city  of  Agamemnon ;  but 
now  ]\Iariette-Bey  has  read  the  stories  of  Egyptian  dynas- 
ties from  their  temple  walls ;  Layard  brings  to  us  vast 
numbers  of  tablets  from  tlie  libraries  of  Nineveh ;  and  Dr. 


4  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Schliemann  gives  us  the  gold  bracelets  of  Hecuba  and  the 
gold  necklaces  of  Clytemnestra  from  Troy  and  Argos. 
Every  hidden  thing  comes  to  light  at  last ;  and  the  ob- 
scure beginnings  of  Christianity,  hidden  in  the  Catacombs, 
are  revealed  to  us  by  the  labors  of  Bosio  and  Eossi, 
till  we  seem  to  be  standing  by  the  tombs  of  apostles  and 
martyrs. 

§  2.  What  are  the  Catacombs?  —  The  Catacombs  are  a 
labyrinth  of  galleries  excavated  below  the  hills  which 
surround  Eome.  They  are  at  different  levels,  cut  out  of 
the  tufa,  or  volcanic  rock.  Of  this  volcanic  ttifa,  there 
are  three  kinds.  The  lowest  stratum  is  a  compact  and 
solid  conglomerate  called  tiofa  lithoide.  This  was  an- 
ciently quarried  in  large  quantities  for  building  purposes, 
and  its  solidity  appears  from  the  fact  that  the  Cloaca 
Maxima  was  built  of  great  rocks  of  this  stone.  Above 
this  are  stratified  beds  of  a  softer  rock  called  tufa  grano- 
lare.  There  are  also  beds  of  volcanic  ashes,  not  solidified, 
called  pozzolana,  of  which  the  old  Roman  cement  was 
made.  The  excavations  from  which  this  has  been  taken 
remain  open  in  many  places,  and  are  called  arenaria,  or 
sand-pits.  But  the  Catacombs  are  not  dug  out  of  this 
material,  which  is  too  soft  for  the  purpose,  —  nor  from  the 
tufa  lithoide,  which  is  too  hard,  —  but  from  the  interme- 
diate strata,  which  are  easily  excavated,  and  yet  are  strong 
enough  for  permanent  galleries  and  tombs.-^ 

These  galleries  cross  and  recross  each  other,  and  are  so 
extensive  that,  if  stretched  out  into  a  single  line,  they 
would  be  three  hundred  or  four  hundred  miles  long, — 
long  enough  to  extend  from  one  extremity  of  Italy  to  the 
other.  They  are  narrow  passages,  usually  only  three  or 
four  feet  wide,  with  niches  on  each   side  for  bodies.     Of 

^  See  illustration  of  Areiiaria  aiul  Catacombs  in  Plate  I.,  "Ground 
Plan  of  Catacoml  s." 


THE   CATACOxMDS.  5 

these  j^raves  seventy  thousand  liave  been  counted,  and 
liussi  lias  calculated  that  in  all  there  are  more  tlian  three 
million.  Obviously  then,  the  Catacombs  are  cemeteries, 
and  as  obviously  they  are  mostly  Christian  cemeteries, 
and  were  used  durinji,-  three  or  lour  hundred  years  as  burial 
l)laces  by  tlie  Christians  in  Jtome.  As  the  Pagan  llomans 
usually  l)urned  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  deposited  the 
ashes  in  an  urn,  they  needed  no  such  extensive  l)urial-j)laces. 
Niches  were  excavated  on  each  side  of  the  galleries,  making 
a  receptacle  in  the  roclv  just  large  enough  lor  the  body,  and 
were  closed  by  slabs  of  stone  fitted  into  grooves-  and 
cemented  in  their  place.  There  were  also  larger  family 
vaults,  or  little  chambers  with  graves  on  each  side.  These 
were  called  ciibicnla,  or  bed-chambers.^  On  the  walls  and 
ceilings  of  these  we  often  find  fresco  painting.s.  These 
rooms  and  the  underground  ]mssages  were  lighted  and 
ventilated  here  and  there  by  what  are  called  himinari, 
or  light  holes,  and  spiragli,  breathing-holes.  These  holes 
still  remain,  often  concealed  by  bushes,  and  are  dangerous 
to  thos(}  who  ride  on  the  Campagna. 

The  precise  meaning  of  the  word  Catacomb  is  doubtful ; 
the  most  probable  etymology  is  that  which  derives  it  from 
two  words,  Kara  and  ri^yo./?©?,  "  a  tomb  beneath,"  or  under- 
ground toml) ;  or,  perhaps,  Kajci  and  fcoifidco,  "  an  under- 
grountl  sleeping- place."  We  first  hear  of  this  word  in  the 
sixth  century.  The  earliest  writers  who  mention  these 
catacomljs  call  them  cryi)ts  or  cemeteries.  This  word 
amctcry,  is  the  exact  equivalent  in  Greek  to  dormitory  in 
Latin,  and  means  a  sleeping-place.  It  came  into  use 
with  Christianity,  and,  like  so  many  other  words,  contains 
a  whole  history  of  thought  and  feeling.  It  maiks  the  ad- 
vent of  a  new  view  of  death,  which  regards  it  as  a  sleep, 
a  view  given  to  us  by  Jesus,  who  loved  always  to  speak 

^  See  Plate  III.,  Figuri-  2,  fur  a  view  of  a  Cubieiilum. 


6  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

of  death  as  sleep  :  "  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepetli."  So  the 
writer  of  the  Book  of  Acts,  describing  the  cruel  death  of 
Stephen,  bruised  with  stones,  says,  "  He  fell  asleep."  Thus, 
in  the  word  Cemetery,  we  have  the  whole  history  of  the 
Christian  view  of  death. 

§  3.  First  Period.  The  Catacombs  as  Cemeteries.  —  Why 
were  these  subterranean  catacombs  selected  by  the  Chris- 
tians for  their  burial-places  ?  To  answer  this  question  we 
must  consider  a  moment  the  situation  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians in  Eome. 

The  Eoman  burial-places  were  all  outside  of  the  city,  for 
the  Eoman  law  positively  forbade  interments  within  the 
city.  They  extended  on  each  side  of  the  roads  going  out 
of  Eome.  The  rich  had  costly  mausoleums  for  themselves 
and  their  families,  and  columharia  for  their  freedmen 
and  slaves.  Many  of  the  mausoleums  and  stately  tombs 
were  above  ground,  as  we  still  see  them  standing  on  either 
side  of  the  Appian  Way.  The  columbaria  were  under- 
ground chambers,  with  little  niches  (or  pigeon-holes)  all 
around  the  walls,  for  cinerary  urns  containing  the  ashes. 
There  were  also  public  burial-places  for  the  poor,  and  enclos- 
ures near  by  for  cremation,  surrounded  by  cypress-trees  on 
the  four  sides.  All  these  monuments  and  burial-places  were 
consecrated ;  and,  after  that,  could  not  be  bought  or  sold. 
The  area  around  the  tombs  was  also  consecrated  ;  the  num- 
ber of  feet  fronting  on  the  road,  and  the  number  extending 
backward  into  the  field,  being  inscribed  on  the  monument, 
or  cippus,  in  the  corner  of  the  ground.  Horace  (Sat.  viii. 
Book  I.),  speaking  of  such  a  burial-place,  meant  for  the 
poor,  says :  "  The  pillar  (or  cippus)  at  the  entrance,  marked 
out  a  thousand  feet  in  front  on  the  road,  and  three  hundred 
Imck  into  the  field,  that  the  heir  might  lay  no  claim  to  it." 

The  Eoman  law  carefully  protected  the  right  of  sepul- 
ture.   Tlie  Eomans  believed  that  the  shades  of  the  unburied 


TlIK   CATACOMBS.  7 

(lead  wandered  disconsolate  for  a  hundred  years  on  the 
banks  of  the  Styx,  unable  to  cross  the  river.  Cicero  says : 
"  With  regard  to  the  right  of  sepulture,  it  is  so  sacred  a 
thing  that  all  confess  it  sliould  be  i)ei'f()rnied  in  consecrated 
ground,  and  if  possible  in  land  belonging  to  the  family." 
Even  before  the  land  was  consecrated,  as  soon  as  a  body 
was  deposited  in  it,  it  became  relifjiosus,  and  could  not 
be  taxed  or  transferred  in  the  usual  way.  The  Christian 
might  therefore  be  himself  an  outlaw,  but  simply  by  bury- 
ing his  dead  lie  placed  them  under  the  protection  of  the 
Roman  Pontifex.  The  Roman  law  distinctly  allowed  the 
bodies  of  those  capitally  executed  to  be  given  to  their 
friends  if  asked  for;  —  a  law  which  illustrates  the  fact  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  going  to  Pilate  to  ask  the  body  of 
Jesus. 

The  Christians,  therefore,  had  a  right  to  bury  their  dead 
where  they  pleased.  They  might  have  bought  ground  on 
each  side  of  the  Appian  Way  if  they  liked.  Why  then  did 
they  prefer  the  Catacombs  ?  Because  they  differed  from  the 
Romans  in  two  particulars  :  first,  they  wished  to  bury  their 
dead  without  consuming  them ;  and  secondly,  they  wished 
to  be  buried  by  the  side  of  those  of  their  own  religion.  In 
both  these  wishes  they  had  been  anticipated  by  the  Jews, 
and  the  Jews  in  Rome  buried  their  dead  in  the  Catacombs 
before  the  time  of  Christ.  Several  very  ancient  Jewish 
catacombs  have  been  discovered.  In  other  parts  of  the 
world  the  Jews  had  excavated  their  tombs  in  the  rocks.  It 
was  natural  they  should  do  so  here.  The  burial  of  bodies 
without  cremation  seemed  to  the  Roman  mind  barbarous, 
and  perhaps  dangerous  to  health.  It  was,  therefore,  natural 
that  the  Jews  should  select  for  this  purpose  the  under- 
ground receptacles,  apart  from  observation,  and  to  burial  in 
which  no  one  could  reasonably  object.  Following  the  are- 
naria,  or  tremendous  underground  quarries,  they  diverged 


8  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS    IN    RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

from  them  to  the  right  or  left  into  the  soft  tufa  rock,  and 
there  dug  out  galleries  and  tombs.  One  of  these  Jewish 
catacombs  was  discovered  by  Bosio,  on  Monte  Verde,  very 
much  more  ancient  than  the  Christian  catacomb  near  by. 
There  were  Hebrew  inscriptions  in  it,  and  a  rude  drawing 
of  the  seven-branched  candle-stick.  In  1859  another  Jew- 
ish catacomb  was  discovered  on  the  Appian  Way,  two 
miles  from  Rome.  Nearly  two  hundred  inscriptions  have 
been  found  in  it,  but  not  one  of  them  either  Christian  or 
Pagan.     One  of  the  inscriptions  is  as  follows:  — 

'*  Here  lies  Salome,  daughter  of  Gadia,  Father  of  the  Syna- 
gogue of  the  Hebrews.  She  lived  forty-one  years.  Her  sleep 
is  in  peace." 

On  another :  — 

"  Here  lies  Nicodemus,  ruler  of  the  Severences,  and  beloved 
by  all.  Be  of  good  cheer,  inoffensive  young  man!  No  one  is 
exempt  from  death." 

The  Jews,  believing  in  immortality,  often  called  the 
tomb,  not  the  Place  of  the  Dead,  but  Beth-ha-haim,  —  the 
House  of  the  Liviniy. 

Still  another  religious  community  buried  their  dead  in  a 
catacomb  of  their  own  at  Rome.  This  was  composed  of  the 
followers  of  Zoroaster.  These  religionists  could  not  prac- 
tise cremation,  for  fire  to  them  was  a  god,  and  must  not 
be  polluted  by  contact  with  a  dead  body.  Nor  could  they 
inter  their  dead  in  the  earth,  for  the  earth  was  a  god  also, 
and  must  not  touch  a  dead  body.  But  their  religious 
needs  were  met  by  the  Catacombs,  where  they  could  put 
away  their  dead  in  the  solid  rock,  where  neither  fire  nor 
earth  would  touch  them. 

The  first  Christians  in  Rome,  being  mostly  Jews,  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  tlieir  natioir  by  burying  in  these  gal- 
leries in  tlie  rock.     They  also  satisfied  thus  their  sense  of 


THE   CATACOMBS.  9 

1)1-0 tlierbootl.  Loving  each  other  during  life,  in  their  death 
they  were  not  divided. 

One  of  the  very  ancient  inscriptions  states  tliat  "  Auto- 
nius  has  built  tliis  hjpogcnm  (that  is,  underground  tomb) 
for  himself,  his  family,  and  for  those  who  believe  in  the 
Master."  Another  monument  consecrates  a  tomb  "to  tlio.se 
who  believe  in  my  religion."  This  indicates  the  desire  of 
Christians  to  be  buried  near  to  each  other ;  and  out  of  this 
sense  of  brotherhood,  outliving  death,  there  gradually  grew 
u^)  this  vast  subterranean  necropolis,  —  this  great  City  of 
the  Dead. 

There  also  existed  in  Pagan  Rome  before  Christ,  Confra- 
Lcrnities,  or  funeral  societies,  which  had  a  right  under 
J  Ionian  Law  to  consecrate  a  piece  of  land  lor  burials. 
There  were  in  Home  a  large  number  of  these  burial-clubs. 
Nearly  eighty  are  mentioned,  belonging  to  different  trades. 
There  were  confraternities  of  masons,  carpenters,  soldiers, 
sailors,  luuiters,  fishermen,  bakers,  cooks,  and  the  like. 
Just  as  the  modern  burial  societies  in  Catholic  countries 
are  under  the  patronage  of  some  saint,  these  Heathen 
confraternities  were  under  the  protection  of  Jupiter,  or 
Hercules,  Apollo,  or  Diana.  In  A.  D.  133,  there  existed 
one  of  these  Collegia,  consisting  of  slaves.  An  inscrip- 
tion has  been  found,  giving  the  constitution  and  l)y-laws 
of  this  association.  There  was  an  admission  fee,  and  a 
monthly  assessment.  Tf  this  was  regularly  paid,  a  cer- 
tain sum  was  to  be  allowed  for  funeral  expenses.  Six 
times  a  year  the  members  of  this  society  dined  together  in 
lionor  of  Diana  and  Antinous,  and  a  fixed  allowance  of 
bread  and  wine  was  made  to  each  on  this  festival. 

It  was  under  the  protection  of  these  laws  and  customs 
that  the  burial  places  of  the  first  Christians  began  to  be 
made  in  the  Catacombs.  There  was  no  secrecy  in  their 
construction.     They  were   entered  by  ornamental  portals 


10  EVENTS   xVND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

from  the  higbways  near  the  city.  One  disadvantage  of 
this  was  that  these  funereal  monuments,  both  Pagan  and 
Christian,  were  apt  to  be  defaced  by  advertisements  and 
rude  inscriptions ;  for  it  seems  that  the  same  vulgar  love 
of  notoriety  which  leads  people  to  scrawl  their  names  on 
the  rocks  in  the  Yo-Semite,  or  on  the  sides  of  Mont  Blanc, 
existed  among  the  grave  Eomans.  Political  placards  were 
also  posted  on  the  monuments  and  tombs.  So,  just  as  we 
see  the  notice  "  Stick  no  bills  here,"  you  may  read  on  the 
lloman  tombs,  "  Writer  !  spare  this  work  "  ;  Liseriptor  ! 
Togo  tc  vt  transeas  7no7i'itmentum,  which  may  be  freely  ren- 
dered, —  "  Post  no  advertisements  on  this  wall" 

The  Eoman  law  protecting  burial-places,  both  Christian 
and  Pagan,  was  so  faithfully  executed  by  the  Roman  Col- 
lege of  Pontiffs,  that,  though  they  were  pagans,  their  au- 
thority in  this  matter  was  afterward  confirmed  even  by 
Christian  Emperors.  By  degrees,  the  Christians  took  ad- 
vantage of  this  respect  for  sepulchres,  and  excavated 
chapels  for  prayer,  and  rooms  for  the  love-feasts,  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  Catacombs.  And  afterward,  during  times  of 
persecution,  these  rooms  became  hiding-places  for  the 
Christians. 

For  some  time  after  Christianity  was  diffused  in  Pome, 
the  Christians  were  considered  as  only  a  Jewish  sect.  The 
religion  of  the  Jews  was  a  religio  licita,  —  that  is,  one  per- 
mitted to  be  exercised ;  and  thus  for  a  time  the  Christians 
escaped  persecution,  under  the  protection  of  Judaism  ;  but 
in  the  reign  of  ^ero  they  were  distinguished  from  the 
Jews,  and  be^an  to  be  known  as  Christians.  Then  came 
the  first  persecution  under  Nero.  There  was  another  per- 
secution under  Domitian,  another  under  Trajan,  another 
under  Aurelius  Antoninus.  Then  it  was  that  Polycarp 
died  in  the  arena  at  Smyrna  ;  and  Blandina ;  and  then  Jus- 
tin acquired  his  surname  of  Martyr;  and  then,  too,  perished 


THE    CATACOMDS.  11 

St.  Cecilia;  and  a  great  multitude  more  —  "of  whom  the 
world  was  not  worthy."  And  thus,  during  two  centuries, 
down  to  the  time  of  Constantine,  the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
was  the  seed  of  the  church. 

This  period  of  persecution  and  martyrdom  makes  a  new 
epoch  in  the  history  uf  the  Catacombs.  At  lirst  they  were 
simply  underground  cemeteries  —  with  a  few  cha[)els  here 
and  there  for  funeral  services  —  where  privacy,  rather  than 
secrecy,  M-as  the  object  aimed  at. 

§  4.  Second  Period.  Tlic  Catacombs  in  the  age  of  martyr- 
dom ;  as  retreats  from  2^er  scent  ion,  and  as  places  of  wor- 
ship. —  It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  to  the 
Itomau  mind  religion  was  an  essential  part  of  national 
life,  lieligion  was  a  concern  of  the  state,  to  be  maintained 
by  the  state,  and  observed  in  all  its  outward  forms  by  all 
good  citizens.  Koman  religion  had  no  doctrinal  system, 
and  therefore  had  no  hostility  to  heresy.  Essentially  an 
external  worship  of  ritual  and  ceremony,  it  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  opinions,  so  long  as  these  externals  were  properly  ob- 
served. Such  being  the  respect  of  the  liomans  for  national 
observance,  they  not  only  allowed  but  required  the  m.en  of 
other  nations,  residing  in  liome,  to  worship  their  own  na- 
tional gods.  As  long  as  the  Christians  seemed  to  be  a  part  of 
the  Jewish  population,  and  to  be  worshipping  according  to 
Jewish  rites,  their  peculiarities  troubled  the  liomans  very 
little ;  but  the  moment  it  was  seen  that  they  had  broken 
with  Judaism,  they  lost  their  raison  d'etre.  Then  it  was 
said  to  the  Christians,  non  licet,  "  you  have  no  right  to  be." 
They  were  taunted  with  being  "  neither  one  thing  nor  the 
other";  neither  Jews  nor  Pagans — geiius  tertiuin,  some 
third  sort  of  creature,  half-way  between. 

The  Iiomans  could  not  understand  a  religion  wliich  com- 
prehended men  of  diHerent  nations.  "A  man  must  be  a 
fool,"  said  Celsus,  "to  believe  that  Greeks  and  Barbarians 
can  have  the  same  irod." 


\ 


12  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

It  was  also  suspicious  that  they  had  no  altars,  images, 
nor  temples.  This  indicated  something  secret  and  mys- 
terious. 

Their  brotherly  love  was  also  suspicious.  The  Roman 
police  could  net  see  what  united  them  together  so  closely, 
if  it  were  not  a  conspiracy. 

Their  refusing  to  worship  the  image  of  the  Emperor  was 
also  a  sort  of  rebellion.  They  were  like  the  Quakers  under 
James  XL  who  would  not  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  This 
constituted  treason,  —  crimen  majestatis. 

They  were  also  accused  of  morose  indifference  to  public 
affairs.  They  were  i-egarded  as  men  dead  to  the  worhl,  and 
useless  for  public  life. 

The  state  not  only  punished  them  by  law,  but  left  them 
outlaws,  exposed  to  popular  cruelty.  To  the  ignorant, 
everything  strange  is  odious.  Common  people  are  all  con- 
servative ;  they  always  hate  novelty.  Ignorance  also  is 
the  mother  of  calumny.  Thus  the  Jews  were  believed  by 
the  people  of  liome  to  be  Avorshippers  of  swine,  of  the 
clouds,  of  an  ass's  head,  and  to  sacrifice  a  Greek  every  year 
at  a  festival. 

Christians  were  called  Atheists.  Even  the  astute  Taci- 
tus, who  ought  to  liave  known  better,  called  Christianity 
"  a  detestable  superstition,"  and  said  that  Christians  "  were 
men  hateful  for  their  crimes,  aud  deserving  the  severest 
punishments." 

Hence  came  the  terrible  persecutions,  first  under  Nero^- 
and  repeated  under  different  emperors,  till  the  accession  of 
Constantine. 

The  number  of  martyrs  in  the  Catacombs  has  sometimes 
been  exaggerated.  One  tradition  says  that  in  that  of  Saint 
Calixtus  alone  there  were  174,000. 

The  greatest  number  was  under  Diocletian.  Gibbon 
thinks  there  were  not  more  than  2,000  put  to  death  at  that 


THE   CATACOMBS.  13 

time.  Probably  this  is  mucli  understated.  Since  Gibbon's 
time  we  liave  the  testimony  oi'  the  Lonibs  in  the  Catacumbs, 
on  which  is  to  be  Ibunil  the  designation  Marfyres,  or  Christi 
Martijrcs,  with  such  numerals  as  oO,  40,  150,  and,  in  one 
case,  nOO. 

Prudentius  (in  tlie  fourth  century)  speaks  of  "silent 
tombs,"  on  which  were  only  the  number  of  the  martyrs 
recorded,  and  not  their  names.  He  mentions  "  sixty  in 
one  tond),  —  obscure  victims  whose  names  were  known 
only  to  Christ." 

There  are,  in  fact,  very  few  tombs  (not  more  tlian  five  or 
six  in  all)  with  the  names  of  martyrs  inscribed  on  them. 
The  following  are  si)ecimens  :  — 

'  "  Liinnus,  the  martyr  of  Clu'ist,  lies  here.  lie  sutlered  under 
Diocletian.     For  Iiis  posterity  also." 

"  Primitius,  in  peace,  after  many  torments.  A  most  vahant 
martyr.  He  lived  38  years.  [His  wife]  made  this  to  her  very 
sweet  and  most  deserving  husband." 

"  Here  lies  Gordeanus,  deputy  from  Gaul,  who  was  strangled 
for  his  faith,  with  all  his  family.  iNIay  they  rest  in  peace. 
Their  hand-maid,  Theophila,  made  this." 

In  the  year  257  Valerian  forbade,  by  an  edict,  the  hold- 
ing of  Christian  worshi})  in  the  Catacombs.  Then,  as  the 
Covenanters  were  pursued  by  the  soldiers  of  Claverhouse 
to  the  wild  glens  among  the  mountains  where  they  met 
for  worship,  as  the  Huguenots  were  hunted  in  France 
in  their  hidden  meetings,  so  were  the  Christians  hunted 
by  Ivoman  soldiers  through  the  dismal  recesses  of  the  Cata- 
combs. Some  of  them  were  blocked  up  and  buried  alive. 
Many  were  dragged  out  and  i)ut  to  death  with  torture. 

An  entire  change  then  took  place  in  the  sti'ucture  of  the 
Catacombs,  to  suit  them  to  purposes  of  escape  or  conceal- 
ment.    Till*  main  entrances  were  blocked  up,  and  the  stair- 


14  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

ways  destroyed.  Lower  galleries  were  excavated  under 
the  upper  oues,  narrower,  darker,  more  complicated  and 
labyrinthine.  Many  galleries  were  tilled  with  earth  or 
built  up  with  masonry.  In  the  Cemetery  of  Oalixtus  nar- 
row passages  were  cut  for  escape  into  an  adjoining  arena- 
rium ;  and  from  this  arenarium,  a  very  narrow  secret 
stairway  was  constructed  to  the  surface  above,  the  open- 
ing into  which  could  only  be  reached  by  a  movable  ladder. 

Hiding-places  were  constructed  in  the  deepest  recesses, 
where  bishops  and  other  ecclesiastics  sometimes  lay  hidden 
for  years,  and  celebrated  worship  in  the  neighboring  chap- 
els. Tertullian  speaks  of  "  a  lady  unaccustomed  to  priva- 
tion, trembling  in  one  of  these  vaults,  apprehensive  of  the 
capture  of  her  maid,  on  wdioni  she  depends  for  her  daily 
bread."  Wells  were  dug  for  the  supply  of  water ;  store- 
rooms were  cut  out  for  corn  and  wine ;  hundreds  of  lamps 
have  been  Ibund,  for  lighting  up  the  dreary  recesses. 

I  will  not  describe  the  horrible  tortures  inflicted  on  these 
helpless  victims,  whose  only  crime  was  their  religion. 
They  are  fully  related  by  Eusebius,  who  had  himself  wit- 
nessed them.  The  number  who  met  death  in  this  frightful 
form  was  so  great  as  to  fully  justify  the  ascription  in  the 
Te  Deiim,  —  "  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  praise  Thee  ! " 

But  the  courage  of  Christians  grew  stronger  in  the  midst 
of  these  dangers  and  horrors.  An  enthusiasm  for  mar- 
tyrdom sprang  up,  a  desire  to  win  an  eternal  heaven 
throuL>h  a  few  hours  of  sufferin"*.     It  was  the  universal 

O  O 

belief  that  martyrdom  was  the  surest  road  to  heaven, — 
better  than  all  sacraments,  all  prayers,  all  good  works. 
Then  Christians  offered  themselves  to  die,  —  demanding 
tortures,  seeking  persecution,  glorying  in  shame.  The 
humblest  Christian  slave  going  to  death,  saw  himself  sur- 
rounded by  a  halo  of  immortal  glory.  "These  tortures," 
said  St.  Basil,  "so  far  from  being  a  terror,  are  rather  a 


THE    CATACO.MnS.  15 

recreation."  "  Kill  us,  rack  us,  <^riii(l  us  to  powder,"  says 
TertuUiau  ;  "  our  numbers  increase  in  proportion  as  yuu 
mow  us  down." 

Then  was  exemplified,  as  often  before  and  since,  the 
mighty  power  of  the  soul  over  the  body.  Many  ingenious 
arguments  can  be  brought  in  sui)port  of  materialism  ;  but 
they  all  vajiish  into  nothing  in  the  presence  of  such  phe- 
nomena as  these,  when  delicate  women,  old  men,  and  even 
children,  bear,  wiliiout  Ihnching,  incredible  tortures.  The 
strennth  comes  to  them  Irom  iileas  and  convictions  of 
which  the  senses  take  no  cognizance.  A  man  who  was  a 
Pagan  yesterday,  becomes  a  believer  in  Christ  to-day ;  and 
goes  calmly  to  a  cruel  death  to-m(jrrow  sustained  by  his 
new  belief.  Thus  faith  is  the  best  "  evidence  of  things  not 
seen,"  evidence  that  these  are  realities ;  intangible,  indeed, 
and  imponderable,  but  the  mightiest  forces  in  existence. 

The  spirit,  the  water,  and  the  blood  bore  witness.  Such 
a  spirit  as  this,  leading  men  to  be  ba})tized  in  the  name 
of  Christ,  and  then  to  die,  astonished  a  world  which  had 
tried  everything  and  had  iaith  in  nothing.  Omnia  fui, 
niJiil  cj.jycdit,  said  the  Emperor  Severus ;  "  I  have  been 
everything,  and  all  things  are  worthless."  But  these  Chris- 
tians had  found  something  worth  so  much  to  them  that, 
in  (ii'der  to  secure  it,  they  welcomed  death  as  a  bride.  Then 
was  fulfdled  the  Master's  parable  of  a  treasuie  hid  in  a  litdd, 
which  when  a  n)an  finds,  for  joy  thereof  he  selleth  all  he 
hath  and  buyeth  the  Held.  The  field  where  the  treasure  was 
hid  was  the  place  of  torture  and  burial.  No  Monder  that 
a  world  divided  between  monstrous  luxury  and  wretched 
slavery,  —  where  the  rich  were  consumed  by  ennui,  and 
weary  of  life,  and  the  masses  were  trampled  into  misery, — 
was  attracted  by  this  strange  power.  No  wonder  that  pa- 
tricians, like  some  members  of  the  great  Flavian  family, — 
one  of  whom  was  both  consul  and  martyr,  —  and  Flavia 


16  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Domitilla,  niece  of  the  Emperor  Domitian,  should  have 
been  willing  to  die  in  order  to  get  a  little  positive  life. 
"  Here,  at  least,"  they  may  have  said,  "  men  seem  to  be 
really  alive ;  actually  to  care  for  something ;  to  believe  in 
somethino-."  So  the  irresistible  attraction  of  life  drew 
them  to  this  strange  faith,  even  though,  in  order  to  pos- 
sess it,  they  had  to  pass  through  the  gate  of  death.  For,  as 
the  poet  says  :  — 

"  'Tis  life,  whereof  our  nerves  are  scant ; 
O  hfe  !  not  death,  for  which  we  pant ; 
More  life,  and  fuller,  that  we  want." 

No  wonder  that  flowers  of  poetry,  like  tlie  lovely  stories 
of  St.  Agnes  and  St.  Cecilia,  sprang  up  around  these  graves. 
No  wonder  that,  after  the  persecutions  ceased,  these  chapels 
and  tombs  should  have  been  adorned  with  frescoes,  mar- 
bles, mosaics,  and  paintings.  Prudentius,  in  the  fourth 
century,  thus  describes  the  shrine  of  Hippolytus :  — 

"  That  little  chapel,  which  contains  the  cast-off  garments  of 
his  soul,  is  bright  with  solid  silver.  Wealthy  hands  have  put 
up  glittering  tablets  smooth  and  bright  as  a  mirror,  and  have 
adorned  the  entrance  with  Parian  marble." 

No  wonder  that  they  should  regard  this  place  as  holy 
ground,  and  seek  to  be  laid  as  near  as  possil)le  to  the  bones 
of  the  martyrs.  So  sprang  up  by  degrees  that  faith  in  the 
miraculous  power  of  their  relics,  out  of  which  finally  grew 
a  profitable  trade  in  dead  men's  bones. 

Many  inscriptions  testify  to  such  a  belief  in  the  value  of 
the  martyrs'  remains.  One  says  :  "  Valeria  and  Sabina 
bought  for  themselves,  while  living,  this  new  crypt  behind 
the  saints."  Augustine  justified  this  practice,  declaring  it 
profitable  to  be  buried  near  a  saint;  though  how  it  was 
profitable  he  could  not,  he  confessed,  explain.  Jerome 
took  the  same  uround.     But  more  reasonable  is  the  view 


THE   CATACOMBS.  17 

expressed  in  the  epitaph  on  the  Archdeacon  Sabinus,  lately 
found  at  San  Lorenzo:  — 

"  It  does  no  good,  but  rather  harm,  to  keep  close  to  the 
tombs  of  the  saints.  A  good  life  is  tlie  best  way  of  approaching 
their  merits.  We  come  near  to  tiiem,  not  with  our  body,  but 
with  our  soul.  When  the  soul  is  well  saved,  the  body  is  safe 
too." 

Aufjustine  also  made  a  distinction  between  the  reverence 
due  to  martyrs,  and  the  worship  of  God  :  "  We  do  not  build 
temples  to  martyrs,"  says  he,  "  but  remember  them  as  those 
wliose  si)irits  live  with  God.  Nor  do  we  erect  altars  to 
them,  but  only  to  God,  their  God  and  ours." 

We  have  been  among  tombs,  but  the  tombs  have  been 
made  cheerful  by  an  atmosphere  of  patience,  courage,  faith, 
and  love.  What  matters  it  how  wretchedly  men  live  in 
their  outward  life,  if  their  souls  are  full  of  immortal  en- 
ergy !  What  matters  it  amid  what  tortures  they  die,  if 
their  hearts  are  dwelling  in  peace !  That  this  sublime 
yet  simple  faith  prevailed  in  tlie  beginnings  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  voice  of  these  hidden  tombs  proclaims.  Buried 
in  oblivion  for  a  thousand  years,  they  testify  to-day  that 
there  is  a  spirit  in  man  wliicli  can  grow  more  vigorous 
when  the  body  dies.  As  we  peruse  the  records  of  this 
interesting  history,  we  remember  the  poet's  words  and 
make  them  our  own  :  — 

"  I  cannot  hide  tliat  some  have  striven, 
Achieving  cahn,  to  Avhom  was  given 
The  joy  that  mixes  man  with  Heaven  ; 

"  Who,  rowing  hard  against  the  stream, 
Saw  distant  gates  of  Eden  gleam, 
And  did  not  dream  it  was  a  dream  ; 

"  But  heard,  by  secret  transport  led, 
E'en  in  the  cliarnels  of  tlie  dt'ad, 
The  murmur  of  tlie  fountain-head." 


18  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 


II. 

THE   CATACOMBS. 

§  1.  Third  Period  of  the  Catacombs.  The  Catacombs  as 
Sacred  Places.  —  On  October  28,  AD.  312,  Flavius  Au- 
relius  Constantine  entered  Eome  in  triumph.  On  that 
day  Imperial  Heathenism  was  overthrown,  and  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Christians  ceased.  Thirteen  years  after,  the 
Roman  Senate  erected  the  triumphal  arch  which  still 
stands  in  the  forum,  near  the  vast  amphitheatre,  where 
Christians  had  been  so  recently  butchered  "  to  make  a  Eo- 
man  holiday."  The  inscription  on  the  arch  declares  that 
this  trophy  was  raised  to  "  the  Emperor  and  Caesar  Flavius 
Constantinus  Maximus  Augustus,  the  Father  of  his  Coun- 
try ;  because,  through  the  instinct  of  Deity  and  the  magna- 
nimity of  his  mind,  ...  he  had  overthrown  the  tyrant  and 
avenged  the  Eepublic,"  These  words,  "the instinct  of  tlie 
Deity,"  mark  a  new  faith  at  hand.  No  such  phrase  had 
ever  before  been  on  a  Eoman  state  monument.  Hither- 
to it  liad  always  been  nutto  Jovis,  optimi,  maximi.  The 
following  year,  A.D.  313,  Constantine  and  his  colleague 
issued  two  decrees,  granting  liberty  of  worship  to  Chris- 
tians and  Heathen  alike,  and  to  all  other  religions  professed 
throughout  the  empire. 

The  first  result  for  the  Catacombs  of  this  event  was  that 
Christianity  ceased  to  be  a  wholly  underground  religion. 
Churches  were  built  and  reopened  above  ground.  Burials 
in  the  Catacombs  now  were  not  from  necessity  but  from 


THE   CATACOMBS.  19 

clioicc ;  from  a  desire  to  lay  one's  remains,  or  those  of  a 
IViuiul,  near  the  bones  of  the  martyrs. 

Wealthy  Clu'istians  now  enlarged  tlie  cliapels  and  added 
new  decorations,  rictures,  sarcopliagi,  and  ornamentation 
became  more  magnificent,  but  were  less  tasteful  and  sini- 
l)le  tlian  before.  Damasus,  Bishop  of  Home  from  A.D. 
oOG  to  A. I).  384,  restored  tlie  tombs,  inscriptions,  and 
pictures.  He  built  piers  of  masonry  to  support  the  totter- 
ing galleries.  He  cleared  out  the  passages  whicli  had  been 
tilled  up,  and  wrote  poetical  inscriptions  on  the  martyrs' 
tombs.  Basilicas  were  now  built  above  the  Catacombs,  to 
designate  the  martyr's  grave  below.  The  inscriptions  of 
Damasus  were  executed  by  a  tine  engraver,  and  were  done 
in  an  admirable  way.^ 

St.  Jerome,  A.D.  354,  several  years  before  Damasus 
began  his  restomtions,  thus  describes  a  visit  to  the  Cata- 
combs :  — 

"  When  I  was  a  boy,  being  educated  at  Rome,  I  used  every 
Sunday,  in  company  with  other  boys,  to  visit  the  tombs  of  the 
apostles  and  martyrs,  and  to  go  into  the  crypts  excavated  there 
within  the  Ijowels  of  the  earth.  The  walls  on  either  side  as  you 
enter  are  full  of  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  the  whole  place  is 
80  dark  that  one  almost  sees  the  fulfilment  of  those  words  of 
the  prophet,  *  Let  them  go  down  alive  into  Hades.'  Here  and 
there  a  little  light,  admitted  from  above,  suffices  to  give  a  mo- 
mentary relief  from  the  horror  of  darkness ;  but  as  you  go  for- 
ward and  find  yourself  again  immersed  in  the  utter  blackness  of 
niudit,  the  words  of  the  poet  come  to  your  mind,  'Silence 
makes  us  afraid.' " 

The  Latin  poet  Prudent  ins,  a  little  later,  describes  the 
Catacombs  as  they  were  after  I'isliop  Damasus  began  his 
restorations. 

^  Seo  riatf   n.   Fig.  1,  for  a  repaired  and  inscribed  < 'u1)iculuni- 


20  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

"  Not  far  from  the  city  walls,  among  the  well  trimmed  or- 
chards, there  lies  a  crypt  buried  in  darksome  pits.  Into  its 
secret  recesses  a  steep  path  with  winding  stairs  directs  one, 
though  the  turnings  shut  out  the  light.  The  light  of  day,  en- 
tering the  doorway,  illuminates  the  threshold  ;  and  when,  as  you 
advance  further,  the  darkness  as  of  night  arrives,  there  occur,  at 
intervals,  apertures  cut  in  the  roof,  which  let  in  some  rays  of 
the  sun.  .  .  .  Wondrous  is  the  sanctity  of  the  place.  Here 
rests  the  body  of  Hippolytus.  .  .  .  Here  have  I,  when  sick  in 
body  and  soul,  often  prostrated  myself  in  prayer  and  found  re- 
lief, .  .  .  Wealthy  hands  have  here  put  up  bright  tablets.  Early 
in  the  morning  pilgrims  come  to  salute  the  saint ;  they  come 
and  go  till  the  setting  of  the  sun.  Love  of  religion  collects 
here  natives  and  foreigners  ;  they  print  kisses  on  the  shining 
tablets  of  the  tomb.  ...  On  the  Feast  of  the  Martyrs  the 
imperial  city  pours  forth  her  stream  of  Romans,  plebeians  and 
patricians  alike,  faith  urging  both  to  the  shrine.  Albano's 
gates  also  send  forth  their  white-robed  host.  The  noise  on  all 
the  roads  grows  loud,"  etc. 

A.D.  410  Eome  was  taken  by  Alaric.  After  this  there 
were  no  more  interments  in  the  Catacombs.  They  con- 
tinued, however,  to  be  frequented  by  pilgrims.  Afterwards 
the  popes  began  to  bring  the  relics  into  the  city  to  give 
greater  sanctity  to  the  churches.  Then  the  Catacombs 
ceased  to  be  visited,  were  closed  up  with  earth  and  for- 
gotten, and  not  rediscovered  until  the  sixteenth  century. 
Antonio  Bosio  then  spent  thirty-six  years  in  groping 
among  the  tombs  of  these  crypts,  deciphering  inscriptions 
and  copying  pictures.  He  was  called  the  Columbus  of  this 
subterranean  world.  His  great  work  "  Roma  Sotteranea  " 
was  published  in  1632,  five  years  after  his  death. ^  After 
this  time  they  were  often  visited,  and  other  explorers  pub- 
lished important  books  on  the  Catacombs.     Among  them 

1  This  work  of  Bosio,  with  those  of  Rossi,  Northcote,  Ferret,  etc.,  are 
in  tlie  Public  Library,  Boston. 


TIIK    CATACOMUS.  21 

were  Bottaii,  IJaoul  llachette,  Padre  Marclii,  M.  IVriet, 
(wliose  work  is  in  six  iulio  voliiuu'S,  with  500  colored  draw- 
in«^s),  De  Kossi,  Nortlicote,  Maitland,  and  Witlnow. 

§  2.  Monograms  and  Pictures  in  tlw  Catacombs.  —  Some 
writers  have  stated  that  the  cross,  or  its  monogram,  is  the 
most  ancient  of  the  Christian  symbols.  This  is  a  mistake. 
Nortlicote,  tlie  Roman  Catholic,  following  liossi,  declares 
tliis  not  to  be  borne  out  by  archaeological  facts.  No  sign 
of  the  cross,  no  picture  of  the  crucifixion  nor  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ,  appears  in  the  tombs  of  the  first  two 
centuries.  However  strange  this  may  seem  to  those  who 
consider  the  death  of  Christ  the  main  fact  of  Christianity, 
it  is  certainly  so.  Dr.  Wi throw,  in  his  work  on  the  Cata- 
combs, admits  that  they  contain  few  representations  of  the 
cross.  The  cross  does  not  appear  in  monograms  till  after 
the  victory  of  Constantine  in  the  fourth  century.  One  or  two 
figures  which  may  seem  intended  for  a  disguised  cross, 
made  by  two  branches  of  trees  intersecting  each  other, 
are  to  be  found  on  an  arcosolium,  or  vaulted  tomb,  of  the 
third  century.  The  reason  assigned  by  modern  writers  for 
this  absence  of  the  cross  in  the  Catacombs  is  that  it  was  an 
object  of  contempt  to  the  Heathen ;  "  a  badge  of  infamy 
and  sign  of  shame  "  says  Withrow.  No  doubt.  But  Chris- 
tianity itself  was  considered  "  atheism  "  by  some,  a  "  con- 
temptible superstition"  by  others.  Paul  said,  "I  am  not 
ashamed  of  the  cross  of  Christ."  Were  those  who  were 
ready  to  be  crucified  themselves,  ashamed  of  it  ?  The  true 
reason  probably  was  tliat  in  those  early  periods  Christians 
thou«dit  more  of  tlie  life  and  teaching^  of  Christ  than  of  his 
death.  In  the  midst  of  tombs,  they  did  not  think  of  tombs. 
Tlie  images  on  these  walls  are  cheerful,  hopeful,  and  signifi- 
cant of  good.  Tliere  are  no  pictures  of  hell  or  of  purga- 
tory, such  as  appear  in  after  centuries.  Christ  is  not  rep- 
resented as  tlie  Judge  but  as  tlie  Good  Shepherd,  carrying 


22  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   IIISTOEY. 

the  lamb  in  his  arms  or  on  his  shoulders.^  The  earliest 
symbols  are  the  vine,  the  fish,  the  miracle  at  Cana,  the 
paralytic  man  carrying  his  bed,  the  multiplication  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes,  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  and  the  entrance  of 
Christ  into  Jerusalem.  With  these,  —  from  the  Old  Tes- 
tament are  Jonah  under  his  gourd,  as  a  sign  of  a  protect- 
ing providence ;  Jonah  swallowed  by  the  fish,  as  the  sign  of 
a  persecuted  and  hidden  religion ;  Jonah  coming  out  of  the 
fish,  as  the  sign  of  the  future  resurrection  of  Christianity; 
Daniel  in  the  lion's  den,  or  the  three  children  in  the  fiery 
furnace,^  as  the  sign  of  safety  amid  persecution.  The  dove 
with  the  olive  branch,  coming  back  to  Noah,  implied  the 
hope  that  the  deluge  of  evil  was  about  to  pass  away. 
Moses  striking  the  rock  was  the  type  of  the  comfort 
brought  to  the  soul  by  tlie  living  waters  of  truth.  All 
these  pictures  are  symbols  of  hope ;  they  suggest  comfoili 
and  trust.  In  these  gloomy  vaults  nothing  is  gloomy. 
The  earliest  pictures  are  the  brightest,  cheeriest,  least  con- 
ventional of  all.  Beautiful  grapevines  gracefully  climb 
over  the  walls ;  little  birds  sit  on  the  branches  and  peck 
at  the  grapes.  The  ceilings  are  painted  in  fresco  and  in 
bright  colors,  so  as  to  resemble  those  of  Pompeii.  Even  the 
mythology  of  Heathenism  is  borrowed,  with  a  Christian 
sense  given  to  it.  Orpheus  is  represented  as  taming  the 
wild  beasts  with  his  lyre,  and  making  the  trees  follow  him  ; 
and  Ulysses  as  binding  himself  to  the  mast.  The  one  rep- 
resents the  peaceful  triumph  of  Jesus  over  the  ferocious 
passions  and  the  dull  insensibility  of  men ;  the  other  is 
the  emblem  of  virtue  resisting  the  allurements  of  sinful 
pleasure.     Such  are  the  paintings  in  the  oldest  tombs  and 

1  See  Plate  IV.  Fig,  1,  where  tins  occurs  on  the  sarcophagus  thifse 
times  ;  one  Good  Shepherd  in  the  middle,  and  one  on  each  side. 

2  See,  for  such  pictures,  Plate  III.  Fig.  I.  of  the  Catacombs,  where 
many  of  these  symbolic  figures  are  to  be  found. 


1'.    ^...        I 


xi^!t  f  I 


B'^m 


-w 


^•^ 


^\T.> 


.Lil 


\4 


\ 


'n 


:.»: 

-^■i^ 


i 


I  I...    1       Symbolic  Paintings  on  thk  AValls  ok  a  Cluicui.lm. 


THE   CATACOMBS.  23 

around  the  graves  of  the  first  martyrs.  One  of  the  very 
earliest,  and  also  most  connnon,  is  that  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd carrying  the  lamb  on  liis  shoulder,  with  the  sheep 
around  him.  Sometimes  he  holds  in  his  hand  the  classical 
sijrinx,  or  Pan's-pii)e,  to  indicate  the  sweet  melody  by  which 
he  attracts  these  tleecy  followers.  Sometimes  the  Good 
Shepherd  carries  a  staff  or  crook  in  his  hand,  on  wliich  he 
leans.  Sometimes  he  is  sitting  as  if  weary,  like  Jesus  at 
the  well  of  Jacob,  recalling,  as  Dr.  Withrow  suggests,  the 
tender  pathos  of  the  lines  in  the  *'  Dies  Irai":  — 

"  Quocreiis  nie  scdisti  lassus, 
Rudemisti,  criiccm  passus, 
Tautus  labor  non  sit  cassus  !  " 

Every  one  tries  to  translate  this  grand  Latin  hymn, 
but  no  one  has  yet  succeeded.  A  paraphrase  of  these  lines 
1  can  give,  but  not  their  soul :  — 

"  Seeking  me,  thy  tired  feet  hasted  ; 
For  my  soul  that  torture  tasted;  — 
May  not  all  this  toil  be  wasted." 

or  this  version  :  — 

"  By  the  wayside  dreary,  sitting  worn  and  weary, 
Tliou  didst  seek  me.  0  my  Master,  seek  thy  wandering  child ; 
All  such  sorrow  tasted,  let  it  not  be  wasted, 
Nor  in  vain  that  death  of  pain  endured  with  patience  mild." 

On  hfty-five  sarcophagi  in  the  Lateran  Museum,  taken 
from  the  Catacombs,  the  history  of  Jonah  occurs  twenty- 
three  times  ;  the  miracle  of  the  loaves,  twenty  ;  the  change 
of  water  to  wine,  sixteen  ;  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  sixteen  ; 
while  there  is  l)ut  one  picture  of  the  Nativity,  and  one  of 
Christ  crowned  with  tliorns.  Further  they  do  not  go  ; 
into  the  sanctuary  of  sorrow  they  do  not  enter.  These  art- 
ists stopped  in  a  sacred  awe  before  they  reached  the  cruel 
scenes   of   the   scourLjim'   and   the   crucilixiou.      It  is   a 


24  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

curious  illustration  of  the  insight  of  poetic  imagination  that 
Goethe,  in  one  of  his  stories,  describing  an  educational  in- 
stitution where  the  glad  scenes  of  the  life  of  Jesus  were 
painted  on  the  walls  for  the  moral  edification  of  the  pupils, 
makes  the  teacher  say :  "  We  draw  a  veil  over  the  sufferings 
of  Jesus,  even  because  we  reverence  them  so  highly.  We 
hold  it  wrong  to  bring  forth  that  torturing  cross,  and  the 
Holy  One  who  suffers  on  it ;  to  take  those  mysterious  se- 
crets, in  which  the  Divine  depth  of  sorrow  lies  hid,  and  ex- 
pose them  till  the  most  reverend  of  all  solemnities  appears 
vulgar."  The  early  Christians  anticipated  by  a  Cliristian 
instinct  what  the  philosophic  poet  arrived  at  by  reflection. 
They  also  drew  a  veil  over  the  Divine  depth  of  sorrow. 

Whenever  Jesus  appears  in  these  scenes  he  is  repre- 
sented as  youthful  in  his  appearance,  with  a  countenance 
of  tender  grace,  full  of  cheerful  good-will.  The  stern  type 
of  the  Byzantine  mosaics  had  not  come ;  nor  the  lugubrious 
type  of  the  later  centuries ;  nor  that  which  some  of  the 
early  fathers  derived  from  a  few  texts  of  Scripture  which 
represented  him  as  "  without  form  or  comeliness."  Thus 
Tertullian  asserted  that  Christ  had  no  human  beauty,  and 
St.  Cyril  declared  him  to  be  tlie  most  homely  in  appear- 
ance of  the  sons  of  men. 

In  those  early  times  there  was  no  attempt  to  make  a 
portrait  of  Jesus.  Augustine  frankly  admitted  that  the 
countenance  of  Jesus  was  entirely  unknown ;  and  he  adds, 
"  Neither  do  we  know  the  face  of  the  Virgin  Mary  nor 
what  were  the  features  of  Lazarus." 

Tliere  is  a  description  of  the  person  of  Jesus,  coming 
down  from  antiquity,  the  so-called  letter  of  Lentulus  to 
the  Eoman  Senate,  which  says :  "  He  was  tall  and  well- 
proportioned,  of  a  countenance  full  of  force  and  gravity, 
such  as  mo\'ed  spectators  both  to  love  and  fear.  His  hair 
was   auburn    and   glossy,  and  it  flowed  down  upon   his 


THE  CATACOMBS.  25 

shoulders,  curly  and  parted  in  the  middle  after  the  manner 
of  the  Nazarenes."  The  forehead  is  described  as  "  smcjuth 
and  serene ;  the  countenance  witliout  wrinkle  or  si)ot,  of  a 
pleasing  complexion ;  the  nose  and  mouth  without  fault ; 
the  beard  thick,  of  the  same  color  as  the  hair,  and  divided ; 
eyes  liglit  in  color  and  very  bright." 

The  oldest  portrait  of  Jesus  known  to  exist,  is  one  in  the 
Catacombs,  in  the  ancient  cemetery  of  Domitilla,  grand- 
daughter of  the  Emperor  Vespasian.  It  is,  however,  so 
utterly  decayed  that  two  copies,  one  by  Kugler  and  the 
other  by  Mr.  Heaphy,  both  printed  by  Northcote,  are 
wholly  different  from  each  other. 

The  only  other  ancient  representation  of  Jesus  is  on  a 
sarcophagus  of  the  fourth  century,  and  represents  him 
curing  the  woman  with  an  issue  of  blood.  Both  these 
portraits  are  full  of  dignity  and  gravity.  That  from  the 
catacomb,  as  reproduced  by  Mr.  Heaphy,  has  an  extremely 
earnest  expression,  as  of  one  seeking  strength  from  above 
for  difficult  work.  The  expression  is  certainly  much  su- 
perior to  most  later  types  of  the  face  of  the  Savior. 

The  lamb  is  frequent  as  a  sign  of  Christ,  who  was 
called  by  John  the  Baptist  the  Lamb  of  God.  The 
apostles  are  sometimes  represented  as  twelve  lambs  stand- 
ing around  him.  Sometimes  there  is  a  milk-pail,  a  symbol 
of  spiritual  food,  "  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word."  One  of 
the  most  frequent  symbols  is  the  fish.  It  accompanies  the 
first  dated  inscription  which  bears  any  eml)lem  (A.  D.  234). 
A  hundred  examples  of  the  fish  are  found  on  monuments 
of  the  first  three  centuries.  This  symbol  first  appeared 
in  Alexandria,  It  is  found  on  the  tombs,  rudely  scratched 
on  the  plaster,  carved  on  the  walls,  or  cast  in  bronze. 

Other  favorite  symbols  are  the  dove  with  a  branch  in  her 
beak ;  the  anchor,  indicating  the  soul  which  has  arrived  at 
a  harbor  of  rest.    A  ship  is  a  common  image  of  the  voyage 


26 


EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 


of  the  soul  to  a  better  land.  The  palm  branch  is  the  sign 
of  victoiy,  as  the  dove  is  the  emblem  of  peace,  or  some- 
times of  innocence,  and  sometimes  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
peacock  also  appears  often,  —  emblem  of  immortality ; 
the  cock,  indicating  watchfulness ;  the  stag,  sign  of  the 
longing  for  divine  waters ;  the  horse,  of  speed  in  the  Chris- 
tian race ;  the  lion,  of  fortitude  of  soul ;  the  balance,  re- 
ferring to  the  Judgment. 

The  most  common  symbol  of  all,  however,  in  the  Cata- 
combs is  the  monogram  made  up  of  the  first  two  letters  of 
the  Greek  name  of  Christ,  — 


and 


D 


The  usual  form  is  — 


X 


Other  forms  are :  — 


THE   CATACOMBS.  27 

or,  finally,  this  symbol  combiued  with  the  cross,  as 


D 


Besides  these  symbols  there  is  a  series  of  biblical  pic- 
tures, mostly  iVom  tlie  Old  Testament.  These  are  Adam 
and  Eve,  Noah  in  tlie  ark,  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  Moses 
takin<^^  ofi'  his  shoes,  Moses  receiving  the  law,  Moses  strik- 
ing the  rock,  the  sufferings  of  Job,  the  translation  of 
I^lijah,  the  three  Hebrew  children,  Daniel  in  the  lion's 
den,  Jonah.  And  from  the  New  Testament,  —  the  adora- 
tion of  the  magi,  Christ  with  the  doctors,  and  the  other 
scenes  of  the  life  of  Jesus  before  mentioned.  But  the 
Virgin  Mary  scarcely  appears,  the  earliest  picture  of  her 
not  dating  before  the  fourth  century,  and  then  showing 
her  in  the  simple  human  character  of  a  mother.  Nor  does 
her  name  appear  in  any  of  the  inscriptions  of  the  Lapi- 
darian  Gallery  in  the  Vatican.  Only  three  times  is  her 
name,  Maria,  found  in  the  Catacombs,  the  earliest  not  be- 
fore A.  D.  381,  and  in  neither  case  with  an  ora  ijro  nobis, 
or  an  ave  or  a  mater  dei. 

§  3.  EpigrapJbs  and  Inscriptions  in  the  Catacombs.  — 
Pnssing  on  to  consider  the  epigraphs,  we  find  no  fewer 
than  11,000  inscriptions,  of  which  Bossi  says  that  6,000  be- 
long to  tlie  first  four  centuries,  and  4,000  before  the  time 
of  Constantine.  All  are  Boman,  and  anterior  to  the  close 
of  the  sixth  century.  "  Tlie  earliest  with  a  distinctly  Chris- 
tian phrase,  rcceptus  ad  Deum,  is  of  A.  D.  217  ;  the  first  with 
the  incised  monogram  of  the  name  of  Christ  (-p)  belongs  to 
A.D.  201." 

All  those  who  have  visited  Rome  have  irone  through  the 


28  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Lapidarian  Gallery  in  the  Vatican,  800  feet  long,  the 
walls  on  both  sides  covered  with  slabs  of  stone  containinsj 
in  all  about  3,000  inscriptions.  On  one  side  are  the  Pagan 
funeral  inscriptions ;  on  the  other  the  Christian.  The  con- 
trast is  very  striking.  On  the  Pagan  side  we  read  the 
familiar  names  of  the  great  Eoman  families,  of  the 
Gens  Cornelia,  the  Gens  Aurelia,  etc.,  with  their  titles  and 
offices  ;  on  the  other  the  names  of  Christians,  mostly  hum- 
ble, written  often  in  rude  Latin.  This  collection  has  been 
made  by  the  order  of  successive  popes. 

Eossi  gives  in  his  "  Inscriptiones  ChristianaG"  1374 
inscriptions  with  consular  dates.  They  are  mostly  carved 
in  large  letters  in  Latin,  sometimes  in  Greek ;  with  no 
spaces  between  the  words,  often  abbreviated  to  save  la- 
bor. The  usual,  almost  universal,  word  is  "Peace."  On 
nearly  all  the  Christian  gravestones  this  word  occurs. 
In  pace ;  "  He  rests  in  peace,"  "  She  sleeps  in  peace." 
Through  these  vast  domains  of  death,  peace  reigns.  All 
reminds  us  of  the  heavenly  legacy  of  the  Master :  "  Peace 
I  leave  with  you ;  my  peace  give  I  unto  you ;  not  as  the 
world  gives,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  trou- 
bled, neither  let  it  be  afraid." 

I  will  give  some  examples  of  the  early  inscriptions,  to 
show  the  simple,  childlike  faith  which  pei-vades  them,  and 
the  absence  of  all  theology :  — 

"  To  Libera  Maximilla,  a  most  well-beloved  wife.  She  lived 
iu  peace." 

"  To  the  well-deserving  Silvana,  who  sleeps  here  in  peace. 
She  lived  twenty-one  years,  three  months,  four  hours,  and  six 
scruples."     [Six  scruples  are  a  quarter  of  an  hour.] 

"  Silvana  to  her  well-deserving  husband,  Niciatis,  with  whom 
she  lived  three  years,  two  months,  and  eleven  hours." 

They  are  affectionately  exact  as  to  the  length  of  life ; 
but  they  do  not  mention  the  year  of  birth  or  the  year  of 
death,  as  we  do. 


THE   CATACOMi;.].  20 

Here  is  a  long  inscription,  with  consular  dates,  which 
gives  the  year  217  :  — 

"  To  Marcus  Aurehiis  Porscnes,  frccdman  of  the  two  Au- 
gust!, of  the  hedchambcr  of  Augustus,  procurator  of  the  gifts, 
procurator  of  the  wines,  afjpoiiitud  by  the  deified  Coinmodus  to 
duty  in  the  camp,  a  most  affectionate  patron.  For  him,  well- 
deserving,  his  freedmen  provided  this  sarcophagus  at  their  own 
cost.  Porsenes  was  received  to  God  on  the  fifth  day  before  the 
Nones.     Pricseus  and  Extricatus  being  consuls." 

In  another,  instead  of  this  expression  "  received  to  God," 
is  "  Aurelia,  our  sweet  daughter,  retired  from  the  world." 

Another  to  a  child,  mentioning  the  duration  of  the  ill- 
ness :  — 

'•  The  God-loving  Ileraclitus  lived  eight  years  and  thirteen 
days.  He  was  ill  twelve  days.  His  father  Xanthias  to  his 
son,  sweeter  than  light  and  life." 

Another  to  a  child  says  :  — 

"  May  you  live  among  the  holy  ones." 

The  grammar  is  often  poor,  as  in  this :  — 

"  Leuces  erected  this  to  her  very  dear  daughter,  and  to  thy 
holy  spirit."      [Meaning  "  Acr  holy  spirit."] 

"  Silvana,  thou  didst  live  well  with  me  from  thy  maidenhood, 
rejoicing  in  innocent  wedlock.  Refresh  thyself  among  the  holy 
spirits." 

On  one  slab  is  written  :  — 

"  Called  away  by  angels." 

On  another,  of  date  377,  wo  read  :  — 

"  Born  again  of  heavenly  water." 

Ticsides  these  there  are  many  rude  scrawls. 
The  universal  testimony  of  these  graves,  for  four  cen- 
tuiies,  i.s  that  the  gift  of  Christ  was  not  fear  of  an  angry 


30  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

God  nor  of  a  torturing  hell  nor  of  penal  fires,  but  rest  and 
peace. 

On  a  grave,  A.  D.  339,  we  read  :  — 

Bene  quiescenti  in  yace  ;  "  Resting  well  in  peace." 

The  same  year :  — 

In  pace  decessit ;  "  He  departed  in  peace." 

A.  D.  348.  —  Requievit ;  "  He  has  rested."  y 

A.  D.  ?>5^.  —  Pausahit;  "He  will  rest." 

A.  D.  355.  —  Quiescit ;  "  He  rests." 

A.  D.  359.  —  Ivit  ad  Deum  ;  "  He  went  to  God." 

A.  D.  363.  — SemiDer  quiescis  secura;  "Thou  dost  repose  for- 
ever free  from  care." 

A.  D.  368.  —  Quiescis  in  'pace,  conjux  incomparahills  ;  "Thou 
dost  rest  in  peace,  incomparable  wife." 

A.  D.  369.  —  Vocitus  [for  vocatus']  ill  in  pace ;  "  Being  called 
away,  he  went  in  peace." 

A.  D.  380.  —  Sterna  requiem  felicitatis  ;  "  Everlasting  rest  of 
happiness." 

A.  D.  381.  — "Theodora,  lived  twenty-one  years,  seven 
months,  twenty-three  days,  in  peace.  She  follows  a  larger 
life  ;  and,  a  chaste  beauty,  she  made  her  way  to  the  stai's. 
Now  she  has  joy  in  the  mansion  of  Christ.  She  withstood  the 
w^orld,  always  following  heavenly  things.  She  kept  the  law 
most  diligently,  and  was  a  mistress  of  faith  ;  and  applied  always 
her  excellent  intellect  to  spiritual  matters.  Therefore  she 
reigns  amid  the  fragrance  of  Paradise,  where  the  grass  is  always 
green  by  the  streams,  expecting  God,  and  hoping  to  rise  to  the 
upper  airs.  Her  husband,  Euacrias,  when  she  left  her  body, 
laid  all  that  was  mortal  in  this  tomb,  carefully  building  this 
monument." 

A.  D.  380.  —  "  Here  rests  a  handmaid  of  God  {ancilla  Dei), 
who  of  all  her  wealth  retains  this  house  only.  Her  friends  be- 
wail her  and  seek  for  consolation.  0  pray  for  thine  only  child 
whom  thou  has  left  behind.  Thou  wilt  remain  in  eternal 
rest." 


THE   CATACOMBS.  31 

This  is  the  first  instance  of  asking  the  prayers  of  the 
dead,  a  custom  so  abhorrent  to  strict  Protestants.  But 
may  not  Protestants  have  carried  this  feeling  too  far? 
Was  not  this  the  natural  consequence  of  the  new  faith  in 
an  uninterrupted  life  beyond  the  grave  ?  If  it  was  right 
to  ask  them  to  pray  for  us  before  they  left  us,  why  was  it 
not  right  to  ask  them  to  pray  for  us  just  after  they  had 
passed  the  narrow  line  which  separates  this  life  from  the 
next  ?     So  the  early  Christians  no  doubt  reasoned. 

The  following  inscription  bears  date  A.  D.  472.     It  is  in 

alternate  Latin  pentameters  and  hexameters :  — 

"  Levita3  conjux  Petronia,  forma  piidoris, 
His  mea  deponens  sedibus  ossa  loco  ; 
Parcite  vos  Lacrimis,  dulces  cum  conjugo  natse, 
Viventemque  Deo  credite  flere  nefas." 

"  I,  Petronia,  wife  of  a  levite,  [i.  e.  deacon],  a  type  of  modesty, 
lay  my  bones  in  this  place.  Spare  your  tears,  sweet  daughters 
and  husband,  and  know  that  it  is  wrong  to  weep  for  one  who  is 
alive  with  God." 

Other  expressions  are :  — 

A.  D.  462.  —  "  Laid  in  the  peace  of  the  Catholic  faith." 

A.  D.  500.  —  "  Pieposing  in  the  peace  of  God." 

A.  D.  523.  —  "  In  the  peace  of  the  church." 

A.  D.  523.  —  **  In  peace  and  benediction." 

A.  D.  500.  —  "  Ever  faithftd,  he  will  remain  with  God." 

Other  inscriptions  express  the  hope  of  following  after. 

Precessit  nos  in  pace. 

"He  went  before  us  in  peace." 

ITpoaireAfla)*'  tov  Kad'  r]fxa,s  $iov 

"  Going  away  before  out  of  our  life." 

A.D.  383.     Abiit  ether iam  cujyiens  cceli  conscendere  lucem. 
"  She  departed,  desiring  to  ascend   to  the  etherial   light  of 
heaven." 


32  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

A.D.  393.  ''Eutuchius,  wise,  pious,  and  kind,  believing  in 
Christ,  entered  the  portals  of  death  and  has  the  rewards  of 
light." 

A.D.  393.  "  Here  sleeps,  in  the  sleep  of  peace,  the  sweet  and 
innocent  Severianus,  whose  spirit  is  received  into  the  light  of 
the  Lord." 

A.D.  393.  ''Here  lies  Urbica,  sweet  and  ever  modest.  She 
lived  a  speaker  of  truth.  She  rests  secure  through  eternal 
ages." 

The  oldest  inscription  believed  to  be  Christian  is  A.D.  73 ; 
the  next  A.D.  107;  the  third  A.D.  110. 

De  Eossi  considers  the  following  as  one  of  the  most  an- 
cient in  Eome : 

"  As  a  sleeping-place  for  Titus  Flavius  Eutjchius,  who  lived 
19  years,  11  months  and  3  days,  his  dearest  friend,  Marcus 
Orbius,  gave  this  spot.     Farewell,  beloved  !  " 

This  was  about  the  end  of  the  first  century. 

Domitilla,  niece  of  Domitian,  was  banished  by  him,  as 
Dio  Cassius  says,  "  for  Atheism  and  Judaizing,"  i.e.,  being 
a  Christian.  Ancient  writers  state  that  she  was  buried  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  Rome.  SticIi  a  tomb  has  been  found, 
with  fine  pictures  on  the  walls.^ 

I  will  now  give,  for  the  sake  of  comparison,  some  of  the 
Pagan  epitaphs.  Rossi  says  that  the  oldest  of  these  differ 
from  the  Christian  in  what  they  add,  more  than  in  what 
they  omit.  For  example,  the  Pagan  epitaphs  have  almost 
always  at  the  top,  "D.M.,"  vnQdinmg D Us  Manihus \  "to  the 
Manes"  or  souls  of  the  departed,  regarded  as  divine  beings. 
The  Christian  tombs  omit  these  letters,  though  sometimes 
through  mere  force  of  habit  they  seem  to  have  been 
carved  by  the  sculptpr ;  just  as  we  still  speak  of  the  "  ashes 
of  the  dead,"  though  we  do  not  practise  cremation.     The 

1  Northcote.     *' Roma  Sotteranea." 


THE   CATACOMIIS.  33 

Christian  tombs  are  full  of  Iiojh'.,  and  in  tin's  fullil  the  say- 
ing of  the  apostle  that  "  Christians  are  not  to  sorrow  as 
others,  who  are  without  hope."  There  is  not  much  hope 
on  the  Pagan  tombs,  though  all  that  is  all'ectionate  and  hu- 
mane is  there.  They  differ  also  from  the  Christian  in  that 
they  retain  the  idea  of  the  dark  underworld  as  the  home 
of  the  dead,  while  the  Christian  tombs  show  the  faitli  in 
"  going  up  "  rather  than  in  "  going  down." 

"  The  bones  of  Nicen  are  buried  here.  Ye  wiio  live  in  the  up- 
per air,  live  on  aud  farewell.     Hail  ye  below,  receive  Nicen." 

"  S.T.T.L."  continually  occurs — Sit  tibi  terra  levis. 

Passers-by  are  invited  to  salute  the  deceased.  They  are 
begged  to  stop  and  repeat  the  above  words. 

Occasionally  but  very  rarely,  says  Northcote,  is  there 
some  exhibition  of  ill-nature  or  bad  taste.  Some  sj^eak 
of  the  shortness  of  life. 

"  Life  is  a  trifling  gift." 

"  Live  for  the  present  hour,  since  we  are  sure  of  nothiug  else." 

"  I  have  struggled  for  eighty  years.     Now  1  am  quiet." 

"  Here  I  am,  who  was  never  hero  before." 

"  'J'ake  heart !     No  one  lives  forever." 

"  I  lived  as  I  liked,  but  I  don't  know  why  I  died." 

"  You  who  read  this,  go  bathe  in  the  baths  of  Apollo  close  by. 
I  have  done  so  with  my  wife  often.     I  would  now,  if  I  could." 

"  Here  it  is.     So  it  is.     Nothiug  else  could  be." 

"  Once  I  was  not.  Now  I  am  not.  I  know  nothiug  about  it, 
aud  it  is  no  concern  of  mine." 

"  I  was  not.     I  am.     1  shall  not  be." 

"  Here  I  am  ;  and  I  am  iK)t." 

"  I  have  restored  everything  committed  to  my  trust.  I  have 
not  been  quarrelsome.     1  have  done  all  the  good  I  could." 

"  I  have  never  had  any  lawsuit.      I   have  not  quarrelled.      I 
have  paid  my  debts.    I  have  been  faithful  to  my  friends.    I  had 
.  a  small  fortune  but  a  great  mind." 

3 


34  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

"  I  lift  my  hands  against  the  gods  who  took  me  away  at  the 
age  of  twenty  though  I  had  done  no  harm." 

"The  fates  judged  ill  when  they  robbed  me  of  my  boy." 

One  wdio  lost  in  one  day  his  wife,  child,  brother,-  sister,  and 
nephew,  says  :  "  The  angry  gods  gave  all  five  in  one  day  to  an 
everlasting  sleep." 

Mothers  burst  into  passionate  lamentations  and  say  they  are 
"most  miserable,"  "most  unfortunate." 

One  father,  w^lio  lost  his  daughter  by  an  accident,  desires  to  be 
buried  with  her. 

Sometimes  of  a  child  it  is  said  that  he  died  young  because 
the  gods  loved  him, 

"  Our  hope  was  in  our  boy ;  now  all  is  grief  and  ashes." 

One  boy  of  15  is  called  ^^^^er  revereutissimus. 

A  little  girl  of  seven,  —  "  Obedient  to  her  mother ;  pleasing 
to  all."  Matri  obediens,  placita  omnibus. 

"  Most  innocent  soul,"  —  for  an  infant. 
'  A  girl  of  nine, —  "Of  singular  beauty,  of  most  affectionate 
manners,  and  learning  all  things  well." 

A  boy  of  sixteen  is  said  "  to  have  surpassed  old  men  in 
wisdom." 

"  When  my  daughter  Lyda  died,  the  model  of  beauty  per- 
ished. Strangers  who  pass,  fill  with  tears  the  hollow  recess  in 
this  marble  ! " 

There  are  examples  of  epitaphs  on  wives  and  husbands 
which  make  ns  agree  with  Northcote  in  thinking  it  a  pity 
that  Juvenal's  cynical  view  of  Roman  virtue  should  be 
more  generally  accepted  than  that  of  Pliny  the  Younger. 
The  epitaphs  confirm  the  more  favorable  view  of  Eoman 
manners. 

Juvenal  describes  divorce  as  easy  and  very  common. 
He  tells  of  a  lady  who  had  eight  husbands  in  five  years. 

Tiie  epitaphs,  on  the  other  hand,  speak  of  marriages 
which  lasted  fifteen,  twenty,  thirty,  forty,  fifty,  and  sixty- 
eight  years ;  and  these,  "  without  any  quarrel,"  "  with  no 


THE   CATAC0MI5S.  35 

ill-will,"    "without   giving   or   taking   ofTence,"   "without 
strife,"  "without  wrath  or  bitterness," 

'J'he  wunuuily  virtues  are  reeognized  on  these  Pagan 
monuments.  "  JModesty,"  "  chastity,"  "  prudence,"  "  dili- 
gence in  the  household,"  "  industry,"  and  "  gentleness,"  are 
applied  to  lioman  wives  and  mothers,  as  in  the  following 
instances :  — 

"She  never  gave  a  had  word  to  her  husband." 

"  I  never  had  to  complain  of  her  in  anything." 

"  She  never  pained  me  except  by  her  death." 

"  Though  dead,  she  will  always  be  alive  to  me,  and  always 
fjolden  in  my  eyes." 

"  I  loved  her  better  than  myself,  and  nothing  could  part  us 
but  death." 

"She  was  chaste,  modest,  irreproachable,  a  mother  to  all 
the  world  ;  she  came  to  the  help  of  all  who  were  needy." 

A  wife  says  of  her  husband  that  though  they  had  loved 
each  other  since  they  were  boy  and  girl,  they  had  only 
been  married  a  short  time  ;  and  she  begs  the  Manes  to 
take  good  care  of  her  husband  and  be  kind  to  him ;  to 
allow  her  to  see  him  in  her  dreams  and  soon  to  rejoin  him  ; 
all  of  which  shows  the  instinct  of  inmiortality. 

"  When  I  lost  thee,  0  my  husband,  I  lost  the  sweet  light  at 
the  same  time." 

Friendship  also  appears  on  these  Pagan  monuments :  — 

"Aulus  Mcmmius  Urbanus  to  Aulus  Memmius  Clarus,  my 
dearest  fellow-freedman.  Between  me  and  thee,  my  most  ex- 
cellent fellow-freedman,  there  has  never  been  a  dispute.  We 
first  met  in  the  slave-market ;  we  received  our  liberty  in  the 
same  house  ;  and  nothing  but  this  fatal  day  could  separate  us." 

The  Pagan  toml)stones  are  "  without  hope " ;  not  that 
they  are  without  faith  in  another  life,  but  that  they  are 


36  EVENTS    AND    EPOCHS    IN    UELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

without  faith  in  a  hujlicr  life.  They  certainly  show  a  long- 
ing for  another  life,  and  also  an  instinctive  faith  that  their 
friends  still  live. 

The  change  apparent  in  the  Christian  inscriptions  is  not 
that  they  are  so  much  more  affectionate,  but  that  tliey  speak 
without  doubt  of  the  hereafter,  and  of  a  good  hereafter. 

Of  course  we  find  occasional  exceptions.  Some  of  the 
old  Pagan  thoughts  and  phrases,  as  is  natural,  reappear ; 
but  the  general  tone  is  very  difl'erent. 

Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Cathage,  A.  D.  250,  uses  the  expres- 
sion, "  Not  lost,  but  gone  before ; "  non  amitti,  sal  'prc(i- 
mitti. 

I  will  add  a  few  more  specimens  of  Christian  epitaphs. 

The  early  ones  were  very  simple :  — "  In  peace,"  "  In 
Christ,"  "  He  sleeps,"  "  In  hope,"  etc. 

"  To  dearest  Cyriacus,  sweetest  son.  Mayst  thou  live  in  the 
Holy  Spirit." 

''Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  Savior.  To  Pastor,  a  good  and 
innocent  son,  who  lived  four  years,  five  months,  and  twenty-six 
days.     Vitalio  and  Marcellina,  his  j^arents.'' 

"  In  eternal  sleep,  Arelius  Gemellus.  .  .  .  His  mother  made 
this  for  her  dearest,  well-deserving  son." 

"  Lady  Bassilla,  we  commend  to  thee  our  daughter  Crescen- 
tina,  who  lived  ten  months." 

"  Matronata  Matrona.  A  year  and  fifty-two  days.  Pray  for 
thy  parents." 

"  Anatolius  to  his  well-deserving  son.  May  thy  spirit  rest  in 
God.     Pray  for  thy  sister." 

"  Regina,  mayst  thou  live  in  the  Lord  Jesus." 

"  To  my  sweetest  husband.  .  .  .  Live  in  God." 

"  To  my  well-deserving  wife.     May  God  refi-esh  thy  spirit." 

*'  Sweet  Faustina,  may'st  thou  live  in  God." 

"  Refresh,  0  God,  his  soul.  Bolosa,  may  God  refresh  thee. 
Agape,  live  forever.     Thy  spirit  is  in  peace." 

"  Victorina,  in  peace  and  in  Christ." 


THK   CATACOMUS.  37 

Sucli  prayers  to  the  dead  are  not  to  the  dead  but  to 
the  livin^^%  —  to  iViends  who  have  gone  on  a  little  further, 
and  whose  continued  love  and  help  they  asked,  believing 
they  had  not  forgotten  tliem.  And  these  prayers  for  the 
dead  are  also  prayers  for  the  living.  For  when  we  reject 
that  sweeping  division  which  sends  every  one  at  death  into 
heaven  or  hell,  tlie  Christian  immediately  feels  that  his 
departed  friends  are  only  a  little  way  above  us ;  not  so  far 
but  that  we  may  help  them  with  our  prayers  and  com- 
mune with  them  through  Crod.  We  need  not  be  praying 
them  out  of  purgatory.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the 
early  Christians  believed  in  purgatory.  But  they  thought 
they  had  as  much  right  to  ask  a  blessing  from  God 
iov  their  friends  who  had  gone  on,  as  for  those  who 
were  l)y  their  side.  These  prayers  are  simply  proofs  of 
tlie  lirm  faith  they  liad  in  a  continued  existence  after 
death. 

The  frequent  prayers  for  "  refreshment "  for  the  departed 
also  show  that  they  were  considered  to  be  not  yet  perfectly 
happy  ;  at  least  that  they  were  capable  of  receiving  comfort 
and  help. 

Sometimes  they  prayed  for  "  light "  for  their  departed 
friends,  which  hints  at  the  belief  of  the  heathen  in  a  dark 
underworld. 

One  Pagan  epitaph  says  :  — 

"  Traveller,  curse  me  not  as  you  pass,  for  I  am  in  darkness, 
and  cannot  answer." 

Another :  — 

"  Here  I  lie  in  darkness,  unhappy  girl." 

The  Christian  epitaphs  say  :  — 

"  0  Lord  !  let  not  the  soul  of  Venera  be  in  darkness." 
"  May  my  mother  rest  well,  0  Light  of  the  dead." 


38  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

§  4.  Belief  of  the  Early  Christians  as  deduced  from  the 
Catacomhs.  —  The  interesting  question  with  which  we  close 
our  inquiry  into  the  history  of  the  Catacombs  is,  What 
is  their  testimony  concerning  the  belief  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians, and  concerning  the  great  controversies  which  have 
divided  Christendom  ? 

These  controversies  are  of  two  kinds :  first,  ecclesiastical ; 
secondly,  doctrinal.  There  is  a  great  church  system  which 
claims  to  be  the  original  and  only  true  Church  of  Christ, 
oat  of  which  there  is  no  salvation.  What  do  the  Cata- 
combs testify  as  to  the  existence  of  such  a  church  in  the 
first  three  centuries  ?  We  have  two  authorities,  both  Eo- 
man  Catholic  and  both  of  the  highest  kind  in  regard  to 
this  subject;  the  Italian,  Rossi,  and  the  Englishman, 
Xorthcote.  Their  works  are  of  commanding  authority,  and 
they  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  any  bias  against  their 
own  church.  Rossi  has  examined  17,000  Christian  tombs 
of  the  first  three  centuries.  Northcote  has  carefully  fol- 
lowed him  in  this  examination.  .Now  it  is  true,  as 
Northcote  remarks,  that  men  do  not  write  their  creed  on 
their  tombstones ;  but  it  is  also  true,  as  he  admits,  that 
out  of  the  vast  number  of  inscriptions,  paintings,  symbols, 
there  ous^ht  to  be  some  allusions  to  those  beliefs  which  to 
them  were  essential  and  vital.  For  example,  the  Apostle 
Peter  appears  many  times  on  the  walls  of  the  Catacombs. 
If  the  early  Roman  Christians  believed  in  the  primacy  of 
Peter  as  modern  Roman  Catholics  believe  it,  we  might  ex- 
pect to  find  one  or  more  pictures  of  Christ  giving  Peter 
the  keys,  or  of  Peter  represented  as  the  rock  on  which  the 
church  is  built.  Neither  of  these  is  found.  Fourteen 
pictures  of  the  Deuial  of  Peter  (known  by  the  cock  at  his 
side)  are  there,  and  twenty  pictures  of  his  arrest.  He  is 
fretpiently  represented  as  standing  on  one  side  of  Christ, 
and  Paul  on  the  other.     In  no  single  picture  is  he  distin- 


THE   CATACOMBS.  39 

giiished  above  the  other  apostles ;  which  seems  impossible 
if  the  early  Christians  had  regarded  him  as  the  Vicar  of 
Christ  and  head  of  the  church. 

Nor  is  there  evidence  in  these  tombs  of  the  adoration  of 
the  Virgin  Mary.  She  appears  in  pictures  of  the  wise  men 
bringing  presents  to  the  infant  Jesus,  but  only  as  the 
mother  who  must  be  with  her  babe.  In  no  early  picture 
does  she  appear  as  the  principal  subject.  One  such,  in 
which  Dr.  Northcote  thought  there  was  a  Virgin  Mary  alone, 
praying,  turned  out  to  be  a  martyr,  from  the  plumhata,  or 
leaden  scourge,  by  her  side.  The  earliest  Madonna  is  in  an 
arcofioliuni  in  the  Cemetery  of  St.  Agnes  of  about  431,  as 
Martigny  says ;  and  in  this  she  is  not  being  prayed  to, 
but  is  herself  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  with  a  simple 
veil  on  her  head,  and  without  the  nimbus  given  to  saints 
and  angels. 

Charles  Isidore  Hemans,  the  son  of  the  poetess,  became 
a  Roman  Catholic,  as  he  says  of  himself,  "  led  by  his  stud- 
ies, sympathies,  and  perhaps  aesthetic  tastes."  He  says 
that  he  went  to  Rome  expecting  to  find  ample  and  irrefu- 
table evidence  to  the  primeval  origin  and  inspired  truths  of 
all  the  modern  Roman  Church  teaches.  He  tells  us  that 
the  first  shock  he  received  was  on  finding,  in  one  of  the 
oldest  mural  pictures  in  a  Roman  church,  Peter  and  Paul 
seated  as  equals  on  each  side  of  Christ.  The  impression 
then  received,  he  adds,  "  led  me  to  further  research,  with 
ripened  judgment  and  wider  experience,  till,  influenced 
by  the  records  of  primitive  faith,  I  was  brought  to  the 
conviction  tliat  tlie  papacy,  though  often  useful,  was  a 
merely  human  system."  The  study  of  the  Catacombs  in 
Rome  took  Mr.  Hemans  out  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  back 
to  that  of  England.  He  found  in  the  paintings  there 
Peter  and  Paul  as  equals  ;  the  Virgin  Mary  not  as  an 
objtvt   of  adiiration,    but   as   a  pure   and    sweet    hnniiin 


40  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

mother.  From  such  negative  testimony  we  have  no  right 
indeed  to  infer  the  falsehood  of  a  system,  but  this  only, 
that  it  did  not  hold  any  essential  place  in  the  mind  of  the 
early  Christians. 

The  same  fact  is  true  concerning  those  doctrines  of 
theology  which  afterwards  were  regarded  as  of  supreme 
importance,  —  such  for  example,  as  the  Trinity,  the  Atone- 
ment, the  Last  Judgment,  Satan,  and  punishments  in  the 
underworld.  Jesus  is  nowhere  represented  as  one  of  the 
persons  of  the  Trinity,  but  as  a  young  man  with  sweet 
expression  of  face ;  —  as  the  Good  Shepherd  ;  or  as  Orpheus 
with  his  lyre,  subduing  nature ;  as  feeding  the  multi- 
tude ;  curing  the  paralytic  man  ;  raising  Lazarus  from  the 
dead  ;  as  a  fish ;  as  a  lamb  ;  as  healing  the  sick  woman;  talk- 
ing with  the  woman  of  Samaria  ;  entering  into  Jerusalem. 
This  was  the  faith  of  the  early  Christians.  Christ  was  to 
them  the  good  shepherd,  the  true  vine,  the  bread  which 
fed  the  soul ;  who  could  cure  all  suffering  and  all  woe,  who 
was  able  to  raise  the  dead,  and  who  would  come  again  in 
triumph.  Thus  far  their  theology  went  and  no  farther. 
And  was  not  their  faith  enough,  since  it  enabled  them  to 
die  for  it  ? 

We  ought,  however,  to  state  that  Mr.  Northcote  be- 
lieves he  has  found  allusions  to  the  Trinity  on  the  early 
tombs.  What  he  gives  us  as  proof  does  not  seem  very 
conclusive. 

He  says,  "  We  find  distinct  mention  of  the  first  two  per- 
sons of  the  Trinity "  in  an  epitaph  which  says  "  In  God 
and  in  Christ."  Then  he  says  that  the  third  person  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity  is  not  absent  from  these  epitaphs,  for  while 
on  some  stones  we  read  "  In  Christ,"  on  others  we  read 
"  In  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."  But  he  gives  no  example  of 
the  tliree  names  being  used  together,  nor  of  the  words 
TrinitV;    Triune,   Threefold,    nor    any    similar    expression, 


Platk  IV 


Fig.  1.   Sarcophagus  of  the  H^h  Century. 


Fig.  2.  Sarcophagus  of  the  IYth  or  Vth  Century 


THE   CATACOMBS.  41 

being  found  in  the  Catacombs  before  the  fifth  century. 
The  nearest  approach  which  he  discovers  to  the  mention 
of  the  three  persons  of  the  Trinity  is  on  a  tombstone  of 
the  fourth  century,  and  the  expression  which  satisfies  him 
is  this : 

In  D.D.  et  Spirito  Sancto  ; 

"'  In  the  Lord  God  and  the  Holy  Spirit." 

He  thinks  the  first  B.  stands  for  Deus,  God,  and  means 
the  Father ;  the  second  B.  for  Dominus,  Lord,  and  means 
the  Son ;  and  thus  we  have  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit,  at  least 
mentioned  together,  even  though  nothing  be  said  of  their 
being  coequal  and  coeternal.  But  as  D.D.,  Lord  God, 
may  simply  mean  the  Supreme  Being,  and  probably  does, 
this  proof  is  certainly  not  strong.  But  it  is  the  strong- 
est that  this  Roman  Catholic  writer  can  find  amoncr  the 
17,000  inscriptions  which  he  has  examined  of  the  first 
four  centuries,  in  proof  of  a  belief  in  the  Trinity  during 
that  period.  The  fact  that  there  is  no  evidence  on  these 
tombs  of  the  supremacy  of  Peter,  the  worship  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  or  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  is  no  proof 
tliat  these  may  not  have  been  believed ;  but  it  surely  is 
proof  that  none  of  these  dogmas  held  the  first  place  in 
Christian  thought,  that  no  such  merely  doctrinal  opinion 
was  considered  vital ;  otherwise  it  is  impossible  that 
among  17,000  inscriptions  from  the  first  four  centuries,  and 
from  a  vast  number  of  paintings  in  the  Catacombs,  there 
should  not  even  be  an  allusion  to  the  doctrines  held  to 
be  so  essential  in  later  times. 

Another  fact  indicating  the  tone  of  early  Christianity,  is 
that  no  titles  are  found  in  the  early  inscriptions,  nor  any 
distinction  of  rank  like  those  so  numerous  on  Pagan  monu- 
ments. In  the  latter  we  find  constantly  servus,  "  slave," 
lihertus,  "  freedman,"  and   the   like ;    but   out    of    eleven 


42  EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

thousand  Christian  inscriptions,  there  are  not  more  than 
six  in  which  allusion  is  made  to  rank  or  condition. 

But  the  words  alumnus,  alumni,  "  foundling,"  "  found- 
lings," are  numerous,  showing  the  care  of  such  waifs  to 
have  been  an  act  of  charity  to  wdiich  the  Christians  were 
much  addicted.  "  This  monument,"  says  one  inscription, 
"  was  erected  to  him  by  his  alumnus." 

Charity  rather  than  theology,  works  rather  than  faith, 
character  and  not  creed,  are  recorded  on  these  primeval 
records  of  original  Christianity.  One  is  said  to  be  "  well- 
deserving  "  ;  another  to  have  been  "  the  friend  of  all,"  amicus 
omnium ;  another  "  the  friend  of  the  poor,"  amator  pau- 
perum.  A  child  is  called  "  a  sweet  and  innocent  soul "  ; 
another  "a  little  innocent,"  parvulus  innocens ;  another 
"a  lamb  of  God,"  agnellus  Dei;  another  "an  innocent 
lamb,"  agnella  innocens ;  another  "  a  dove  without  gall," 
palumha  sine  felle.  An  infant  two  years  old  is  said 
to  have  died  "in  his  father's  arms."  Of  husbands  and 
wives  it  is  said  that  they  were  "always  harmonious," 
"  with  no  discord  of  soul,"  "  without  a  quarrel,"  —  semper 
Concordes,  sine  lesione  animi,  sine  ulld  querela.  Of  a  wife 
her  husband  records  that  "  during  fifteen  years,  she  never 
hurt  my  heart." 

The  system  of  early  Christianity  was  eminently  practi- 
cal therefore.  The  doctrinal  allusions  are  few.  Belief  in 
one  God  was  a  vital  doctrine  of  the  early  Christians.  They 
were  known  as  "  worshippers  of  God."  No  polytheistic  ex- 
pression occurs  in  their  inscriptions.  The  Deity  is  always 
"  God,"  never  "  the  gods." 

In  regard  to  Christ,  their  belief  was  summed  up  in  their 
favorite  symbol  of  the  fish.  IXGT^,  the  Greek  word  for 
"  fish,"  contains  the  five  letters  which  compose  the  initials 
of  the  favorite  designation  of  Christ,  'It^o-oO?  Xpicrro^,  Seov 
'Tl6^,  ^(OTtjp, "  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  the  Savior."    This 


THE  CATACOMBS.  43 

was  the  substance  of  their  creed  concerning  Jesus,  viz. : 
(1)  That  he  was  the  Christ,  the  King,  come  to  reign  over 
all  mankind;  (2)  that  he  was  the  Son,  dwelling  always 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Father ;  (3)  that  his  office  was  to  save 
all  mankind  from  sin  and  misery. 

We  sometimes  also  find  Jesus  designated  as  'IxOv<; 
^wuTCDv,  "  Fish  of  the  living."  The  meaning  of  this  seems 
evident  enough,  though  I  notice  that  Mr.  Northcote  has 
not  perceived  it.  As  "  fish  "  means  "  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of 
God,  Savior,"  —  if  we  add  "of  the  living,"  we  have  "Jesus 
Christ,  Son  of  God,  Savior  of  the  living."  This  probably 
refers  to  the  Christian  doctrine  of  immortality  as  given 
l)y  Jesus  when  he  said  that "  God  was  the  God  of  the  living." 
Some  other  inscrii)tions,  indicating  the  same  faith  ia  im- 
mortality, are  added  below  :  — 

Fatuni  fecit;  "  She  fulfilled  her  destiny." 
"  I  have  rendered  to  the  Lord  of  the  universe  the  debt  com- 
mon to  all." 

These  two  have  nothing  specially  Christian ;  but  the  fol- 
lowing could  not  have  been  put  on  a  Pagan  tomb :  — 

Dormitio  Elpidis ;  "The  sleeping-place  of  Elpis." 

Dormit  sed  vivit ;  "  He  sleeps  but  lives." 

QuiescAt  ill  Domino  Jesu  ;  "  He  rests  in  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Ivit  ad  Deum ;  "  He  has  gone  to  God." 

Evocatus  a  Domino  ;  "  Sent  for  by  God." 

Accepta  apud  Deum;  "Accepted  with  God." 

Corpus  habet  tellus,  animam  celestia  regna  ; 

"  The  earth  holds  his  body,  the  heavenly  realm  his  soul." 

Mens  nescia  mortis  vivit,  et  aspectu  fruitur  bene  conscia  Christi ; 
"  The  mind,  unconscious  of  death,  lives ;  and,  quite  conscious, 
enjoys  the  sight  of  Christ." 

We  have  thus  seen  the  history  of  the  Roman  Catacombs 
during  five  periods.     The  first  was  when  they  were  simply 


44  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

underground  cemeteries  where  Christians  could  deposit 
their  dead  side  by  side,  under  the  protection  of  Eoman 
hxw.  Then,  during  the  martyr-age  of  the  Church,  they 
were  places  of  refuge  and  secret  shrines  for  worship; 
where,  however,  the  Koman  soldiers  often  pursued  the 
worshippers,  inflicting  tortures  and  death.  Again,  after 
Christianity  became  triumphant  under  Constantino,  came 
a  period  when  the  Catacombs  were  visited  by  numberless 
pilgrims,  were  decorated  with  sculpture  and  painting,  and 
in  which  the  forgotten  graves  were  found,  and  made  objects 
of  adoration.  Then  came  long  centuries,  after  the  barbari- 
ans conquered  Eome,  in  which  the  Catacombs  were  deserted 
and  forgotten.  And  lastly,  there  is  a  fifth  period,  extend- 
ing to  the  present  time,  when  the  scientific  spirit  of  our 
age,  with  its  impartial  love  of  truth,  studies  carefully  every 
mark  and  sign  of  the  past,  and  restores  the  original  features 
of  a  long-buried  Christianity.  As  the  earth  is  cleared 
away  from  the  tombs,  so  also  are  the  human  corruptions, 
which  have  been  heaped  up  over  the  primitive  gospel, 
cleared  away  at  the  same  time,  and  we  have  the  joyful 
features  restored  to  us  of  the  original  cliildlike  spirit  of 
the  first  church. 

Though  there  are  no  places  on  earth  so  gloomy  as  the 
Catacombs  to  the  eye  of  sense,  there  is  hardly  any  place  so 
full  of  joy  to  the  eye  of  the  soul.  The  long  passages  of  the 
Mammoth  Cave,  in  Kentucky,  are  dark  with  eternal  night. 
Into  them  no  ray  of  sunshine  has  ever  entered.  There  the 
eye  sees  only  what  God  has  made ;  the  torches  illuminate 
sparkling  crystals,  magnificent  stalactites  and  stalagmites, 
and  silent  rivers.  In  the  catacombs  we  walk  surrounded  by 
open  graves,  half-decayed  bones,  ruined  chapels,  and  me- 
morials of  innocent  victims  exposed  to  torture  and  denth. 
But  as  we  study  the  simple  inscriptions  and  sj^rabols,  there 
grows  up  in  the  mind  a  sense  of  cheerfulness  and  hope. 


THE   CATACOMBS.  45 

Tlic'se  persecuted  Christ iaii.s  had  a  perpetual  peace  iu 
thi'ir  hearts.  No  bitter  controversies  concerning  the 
nature  of  the  godhead  had  yet  arisen  to  disturb  the  love 
tl ley  had  for  each  other.  No  dogmatic  disputes  led  them 
away  from  the  gospel  of  joy.  Jesus  was  to  them  brother, 
helper,  savior,  friend,  going  before  tlieui  l)ut  walking  with 
them.  They  felt  perfectly  safe  wliilo  near  liim.  They 
were  not  troubled  about  sacraments  or  ritual,  or  the  ques- 
tion, "  Which  is  the  true  Church,  out  of  which  is  no  salva- 
tion?" Where  the  love  of  Christ  was,  there  was  the 
Catholic  and  universal  church.  Nor  were  they  much  dis- 
turbed about  their  sins,  or  future  suffering.  They  had 
been  washed  from  their  sins  and  cleansed  from  un- 
righteousness by  the  heavenly  love.  Tliey  liad  turned 
their  backs  on  hell,  and  were  walking  straight  towards 
heaven.  Thus  the  pliysical  gloom  of  the  Catacombs  is  dis- 
pelled by  a  light  which  "  never  shone  on  sea  or  land,"  a 
light  shining  inwardly  in  the  soul ;  and  there  too,  — 

"  Death  seems  but  a  covered  way 
That  opens  into  light, 
Wherein  no  blinded  child  can  stray 
Beyond  the  Father's  sight. 

"  And  so  the  shadows  fall  apart, 
And  so  the  sunbeams  play  ; 
And  all  the  chanibei-s  of  their  heart 
They  open  to  the  day  I  " 


46  EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 


Ill 

THE  BUDDHIST  MONKS   OF  CENTRAL  ASIA. 

§  1.  Sakya-Muni  and  his  religious  system.  —  In  the  king- 
dom of  Oucle,  in  northern  India,  near  Nepaul,  about  623 
years  before  Christ  (as  most  authorities  agree)/  there  was 
born  a  prince,  son  of  one  of  the  kings  of  that  province. 
In  early  life  he  left  the  luxuries  of  the  royal  court,  and  be- 
came a  hermit.  The  sight  of  the  miseries  and  sins  of  the 
world  had  made  so  profound  an  impression  on  his  heart  that 
he  found  no  comfort  except  in  communing  with  God,  and 
in  ascetic  austerities.  He,  like  all  around  him,  was  a  be- 
liever in  the  Hindoo  gods,  in  the  Vedas;  and  in  the  Brah- 
manical  faith.  Brahmanism,  as  we  find  by  the  Laws  of 
Manu,  encouraged  the  system  of  monachism,  and  recom- 
mended the  pursuit  of  holiness  by  a  solitary  life  of  self- 
denial.  This  young  man  was,  therefore,  only  following 
the  custom  of  the  established  religion,  in  becoming  a  her- 
mit. He  practised,  during  six  years,  amazing  austerities ; 
and  then  resumed  his  former  life  among  men.  He  said : 
"  All  things  are  transient  but  truth.  Let  me  see  the  truth  ; 
then  I  shall  save  my  own  soul,  and  be  able  to  save  others 
from  the  misery  of  change  and  death  1 "  His  one  object, 
therefore,  was  to  know  the  truth,  in  order  to  help  others. 

1  J.  W.  Rhys  Davids  (Buddhist  Suttas),  in  Max  Miiller's  "Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,"  maintains  that  the  date  of  Buddha's  birth  is  much 
later,  and  fixes  it  about  500  B.C.  Consequently  he  made  his  death,  eighty 
years  later,  to  have  occiuTed  420  B.  C. 


KkJ.     1.         CLOISTKRS    at    A.IUXTA 


Fig.  2.     General  View  of  Rock-cut  Caves  at  Ajvnta. 


TIIK  BUDDHIST   MONKS   OF   CENTRAL  ASIA.  47 

The  name  of  this  young  man  was  Siddartha;  which 
means  "The  fulfihucnt  of  every  wish."  He  was  also 
called  Sakya-Muiii,  or  "  The  hermit  of  the  race  of  Sakya." 
The  name  Luddha,  afterward  given  to  him,  denotes  liis 
oftice,  and  means  "  The  One  who  Knows,"  or  "  The  Wide- 
Awake  One." 

Satisfied  lliat  perfection  was  not  to  be  attained  by  aus- 
terities, and  tindin«f  no  satisfaction  in  what  the  Brahmans 
could  teach,  he  went  down  into  the  depths  of  his  own 
soul  and  at  last  came  to  a  solid  conviction,  a  perfect 
knowledge,  as  he  believed,  of  the  laws  of  being.  The  spot 
where,  after  a  week  of  constant  meditation,  he  at  last  ar- 
rived at  tliis  beatific  vision,  became  one  of  the  most  sacred 
places  in  India.  He  was  seated  under  a  Bo-tree  {ficus 
rdigiosa),  his  face  to  the  east,  not  having  moved  for  a  day 
and  niglit,  when  he  attained  the  triple  science  which  was 
to  rescue  man  from  his  woes.  Twelve  hundred  years  after 
his  death  a  pilgrim  from  China  was  shown  what  then 
passed  for  the  same  sacred  tree,  surrounded  by  to;pes  and 
monasteries.^ 

Having  attained  to  this  settled  conviction,  Sakya-Muni 
went  out  to  preach.  He  considered  his  mission  to  be 
not  to  those  already  on  their  way  to  the  truth,  who  did  not 
need  him,  nor  to  those  fixed  in  error,  whom  he  could  not 
lielp,  —  but  to  the  doubters,  to  the  seekers,  to  those  with- 
out faith.  At  Benares,  the  sacred  city  of  the  Brahmans, 
he  made  his  first  converts,  *'  turning  the  wheel  of  the  law." 

1  The  bo-ircc  of  Ceylon,  also  called  the  pcepul  in  India,  is  a  species  of 
fig,  and  is  held  sacred  by  the  Brahmans  as  well  as  the  Buddhists.  It 
attiiins  a  great  age  and  size.  One  in  Ceylon,  described  by  Sir  Emerson 
Tenneut,  was  planted  288  B.C.,  and  was  therefore  (in  1859)  2,147  years 
old.  Historic  documents  of  different  dates,  from  A.D.  182  down  to  the 
present  time,  describe  and  identify  it.  It  is  regarded  as  possessing  won- 
deiful  sanctity,  and  to  have  come  from  a  shoot  of  the  tree  under  which 
Sakya-Muni  sat  when  he  attained  Nirvana. 


48  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

He  converted  great  numbers  to  his  doctrines,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty.  In  the  belief  of  his  followers  he  then 
became  the  Supreme  Buddha,  Lord  of  the  Universe. 

In  the  year  of  his  death,  543  B.C.,  the  first  convocation 
of  his  disciples  was  held,  to  fix  definitely  the  main  points 
of  his  doctrine.  A  second  and  third  convocation  were  held 
453  B.C.  and  255.  B.C. 

Around  these  simple  facts  soon  arose  a  vast  mass  of 
legends  concerning  the  Buddha.  How  much  truth  or  error 
they  contain  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  ^ 

Our  Great  Master  has  said :  "  The  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruits ; "  and  no  wiser  maxim  can  be  found  than  this.  We 
may  judge  Buddha  by  Buddhism,  and  seek  the  nature  of 
the  fountain  in  the  stream  which  flows  from  it.  It  may 
have  contracted  many  impurities  on  its  way,  but  the  per- 
manent qualities  will  teach  us  something  of  the  source. 

The  doctrines  of  Buddhism  are  that  all  men  are  equal; 
that  there  should  be  no  distinctions  of  caste  ;  that  all  events 
are  ooverned  bv  universal  and  unchansfingj  laws  ;  that  who- 
ever  obeys  these  laws  ascends  in  the  scale  of  being  to 
something  better ;  that  whoever  disobeys  them  descends  to 
something  worse ;  that  the  highest  condition  is  that  in 
which  men  escape  from  vicissitude  and  change ;  and  that 
conduct  determines  destiny.  Whoever  has  read  the  little 
book  of  Mr.  George  Combe,  called  "The  Constitution  of 
Man,"  will  find  therein  the  essence  of  the  moral  system  of 

*  The  Buddha  wrote  nothing  himself;  but  the  substance  of  his  teaching 
was  reduced  to  writing  by  the  council  of  his  followers,  held  after  his  death. 
This  is  the  foundation  of  the  Buddhist  canon,  which  is  in  three  parts, 
forming  the  trijntiJca,  or  "triple  basket  of  the  law."  The  first  contains 
the  discourses  of  the  Buddha,  the  second  tlie  discipline,  the  third  the 
metaphysics.  The  other  councils,  not  later  than  240  B.C.,  revised  and 
expounded  these  scriptures.  Missionaries  carried  the  faith  to  Ceylon 
307  B.C.  The  Chinese  annals  sjpeak  of  a  Buddhist  missionary  in  that 
country  217  B.C. 


THE    BUDDHIST   MONKS   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  49 

lUuldlia.  "Know  the  laws  of  tlie  universe,  and  obey 
tlieni,"  is  the  conclusion  ol"  the  whole  matter.^ 

This  humane  and  benevolent  religion  is  perliaps  the 
most  extensively  received  on  earth.  Three  or  four  lum- 
dred  millions  of  human  beings  are  believers  in  tlie  religion 
of  liuddha.  It  prevails  throughout  all  the  Mongol  races 
of  Eastern  Asia.  It  is  the  popular  religion  of  China, 
Jajjan,  Siam,  Assam,  Nepaul,  Ceylon,  Tartary,  and  the 
state  religion  of  Thibet  and  Burmah. 

No  doubt  there  are  some  great  deficiencies  in  this  religion 
which  have  prevented  it  from  develoi)ing  a  civilization  of 
freedom  and  haw  in  any  state,  and  which  make  Buddhist 
nations  so  far  behind  Europe  in  progress,  science,  and  art ; 
but  of  these  defects  I  will  not  now  speak. 

The  peculiarity  of  tlie  Buddhist  priesthood  is  that  it 
consists  wholly  of  monks.     There  are  no  clergy  in  Bud- 

1  The  opposition  of  the  Buddhists  to  the  whole  sy.stem  of  caste  was  the 
chief  caiLse  of  the  hostility  of  the  Brahmans.  After  Brahmanism  and 
Buddhism  had  lived  side  by  side  for  ten  centuries,  the  latter  was  expelled 
from  nearly  every  part  of  India  e.xcept  Ceylon.  "We  know  nothing  of  the 
history  of  this  sudden  and  extraordinary  decay  of  Buddhism  in  India. 

The  account  which  the  sacred  hooks  of  the  Brahmans  give  of  Buddhism 
is  ver}'  ingenious.  They  say  that  Vischnu  established  it  by  his  ninth 
Avatar.  In  those  days  the  Asuras,  or  demons,  were  making  themselves 
very  powerful  under  Divodasa,  by  means  of  th(;ir  extraordinary  piety, 
virtue,  and  obedience  to  the  Vedas.  Indra  and  the  gods  of  Swerga 
(Heaven)  were  alarmed  at  this,  and  applied  to  Vischnu  for  aid.  Brahma 
had  been  compelled,  by  the  ascetic  piety  of  Divodasa,  to  promise  that  the 
gods  shouhl  not  exercise  their  power  in  his  dominions.  Vischnu,  there- 
fore, knowing  that  the  Asuras  could  not  be  defeated  while  they  continued 
in  the  practice  of  piety,  appeared,  as  Buddha,  to  preach  against  the  Vedas, 
and  make  them  apostates,  which  he  accomplished. 

This  story  shows  that  the  Brahmans  were  puzzled  to  account  for  tlic 
holiness  and  power  of  Sakya-Muni,  and  hit  on  this  adroit  way  of  explain- 
ing it.  Buddha  was  Vischnu  himself ;  that  was  why  lie  was  so  holy  ; 
l)ut  the  religion  he  taught  was  a  false  one  nevertheless.  These  Brahmans 
could  have  given  a  lesson  to  the  Pharisees.  The  preaching  of  Buddha 
was  from  Heaven,  and  yet  it  ought  not  to  be  received. 

4 


50  EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

clhism  corresijonding  to  the  parish  priests,  or  secular  clergy, 
of  the  Eomish  Church.  They  are  all  members  of  monastic 
orders,  living  usually  in  communities. 

§  2.  Father  Hue's  description  of  the  Monasteries  in  Tar- 
tar]) and  Thibet.  —  Father  Hue,  a  Eoman  Catholic  mis- 
sionary, in  his  very  entertaining  account  of  his  travels 
through  Tartary  and  Thibet,  describes  his  surprise  at  his 
first  si^^ht  of  the  vast  and  numerous  Buddhist  monasteries 
in  those  regions.  The  first  to  which  he  came  had  in  it 
two  thousand  monks,  or  lamas;  but  afterward  he  reached 
another  where  there  were  thirty  thousand  lamas,  with  an 
abbot  at  their  head  whose  power  was  so  great  that  the 
Emperor  of  China  was  constantly  in  fear  of  his  influence 
over  the  Tartar  tribes.  On  his  long  and  difficult  journey 
from  Pekin  to  Lassa,  exposed  to  frightful  cold  and  fatigue, 
and  to  the  risk  of  starvation,  with  hardly  any  money, 
Father  Hue  found  himself  hospitably  received  at  the  nu- 
merous convents  near  his  route.  This  Eoman  priest  was 
one  of  those  fortunate  travellers  who  never  lose  their  good 
temper,  however  they  may  be  ill  treated,  and  are  always 
cheerful,  no  matter  what  hardships  they  may  encounter. 
Evidently  wishing  to  find  good  in  those  he  met,  making 
excuses  for  the  faults  of  the  people,  and  sympathizing 
with  their  agreeable  qualities,  he  and  the  Buddhist  priests 
became  great  friends.  He  tells  us  that  the  lamaseries,  or 
monasteries,  of  these  regions,  which  follow  the  Thibet  rule, 
and  are  subject  to  the  dalai-lama,  or  Buddhist  Pope,  at 
Lassa,  have  great  influence  over  the  Tartars  of  this  wild 
region.  Father  Hue  owed  his  safety  among  these  robbers 
to  his  being  regarded  by  them  as  a  "  holy  lama  "  from  the 
West.  Whenever  a  new  monastery  or  temple  was  to  be 
built,  the  begging  lamas  were  sent  out  in  every  direction, 
going  from  tent  to  tent,  and  collecting  large  sums  from  the 
people  of  Tartary,  notwithstanding  their  poverty.      "  In 


THE    BUDDHIST    MONKS    OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  51 

tliese  deserts,"  he  says,  "  edifices  are  reared  as  if  Ijy 
encliantment,  whose  grandeur  and  opulence  would  defy 
the  resources  of  the  wealthiest  potentates."  They  are  built 
of  brick  or  stone,  the  temples  solid,  and  often  elegant; 
and  the  idols  are  not  horrid  monsters,  but  have  regular 
European  features,  and  a  pleasant  expression.  The  con- 
vent of  Kouren,  which  has  thirty  thousand  lamas,  covers 
the  whole  side  of  a  mountain,  and  contains  a  collection  of 
temples ;  with  white  cells  for  the  monks,  in  horizontal 
lines,  one  above  the  other,  resembling,  at  a  distance,  a  vast 
stairway.  Innumerable  tents  below  contain  the  pilgrims 
wlio  are  always  arriving  and  departing.  Tlie  chief  lama 
of  this  convent  is  called  the  fjuison-tamha ;  and  a  visit 
whicli  this  abbot  once  made  to  the  Emperor  of  China, 
though  his  retinue  was  limited  to  three  thousand  lamas, 
stirred  all  Tartary  witli  an  emotion  which  gave  no  little 
alarm  to  tlie  Court  at  Pekin.  The  largest  part  of  the 
lamas  live  in  communities ;  but  another  part,  after  pur- 
suing their  studies  in  convents,  return  home,  and  are  a 
kind  of  out-door  priests.  And  another  portion  are  per- 
petual wanderers,  vagabond  priests,  who  are  always  migra- 
toiy,  moving  about  at  random,  without  aim  or  purpose,  and 
depending  for  their  support  on  the  never-failing  hospitality 
of  the  Tartars.  They  visit  all  Buddhist  lands,  —  China, 
Mantchooria,  Thibet,  Tartary.  "  Tliere  is  not  a  river  they 
liave  not  crossed,  not  a  mountain  tliey  have  not  ascended, 
no  Grand  Lama  before  wdiom  they  have  not  bowed  down." 
They  cannot  lose  their  way,  since  all  ways  are  alike  to 
them.  Tliey  are  like  the  Wandering  Jew;  they  seem 
pushed  forwaid  \\y  some  invisilde  power  wliich  will  not 
allow  tliem  tn  rest.  At  least  they  sliow  how  easy  it  is  for 
the  human  being  to  acquire  the  habit  of  perpetual  motion, 
and  to  lose  .all  desire  for  a  home. 

Father  Hue  made  a  long  stay  in  the  great  monastery  of 


52  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS    IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Kounboum,  near  the  northwest  corner  of  China.  After 
entertaining  him  three  months  without  cost,  they  told  him 
that  the  rules  of  their  convent  required  that,  if  he  wished 
to  stay  longer,  he  must  wear  the  yellow  robe  of  the  lama. 
He  declined,  from  religious  considerations.  Then  they 
said  that,  since  the  rules  of  his  holy  and  sublime  religion 
did  not  permit  this  concession,  they  would  give  him  a 
home  at  another  convent,  near  by,  where  he  could  be  per- 
fectly comfortable  and  pursue  his  studies.  In  this  smaller 
retreat  the  monks  led  a  pastoral  life,  keeping  herds  of  cat- 
tle and  flocks  of  sheep ;  except  a  few  anchorites  who  lived 
alone,  each  in  a  cave  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  spend- 
ing their  hours  in  contemplation,  prayer,  or  harmless  sleep. 
Like  the  European  monasteries,  the  situations  selected  for 
these  Buddhist  lamaseries  are  highly  picturesque,  and  often 
of  enchanting  beauty. 

The  Buddhist  monks  take  the  same  three  vows  which 
are  imposed  on  all  the  orders  of  Christian  monks  —  namely, 
of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience  ;  but  while  only  a  few  of 
the  monastic  orders  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  are  men- 
dicants —  as,  for  instance,  the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans 
—  all  the  Buddhist  priests  are  monks,  and  nearly  all  are 
mendicants.  They  go  out  every  day,  stopping  for  a  minute 
in  silence  before  each  house,  and  receiving  the  rice  which 
may  be  put  into  the  bowl  which  they  carry.  If  none  is 
given  to  them,  they  go  on  in  silence  to  the  next  house. 
This  is  done  when  they  are  near  cities  or  towns ;  but 
when,  like  Father  Hue's  hospitable  entertainers,  they  are 
far  from  any  surrounding  population,  they  are  allowed,  it 
seems,  to  support  themselves  by  pastoral  and  agricultural 
labors. 

One  of  the  great  lamaseries  in  Chinese  Tartary,  where 
Father  Hue  was  entertained,  is  described  by  him  thus. 
He  arrived  in  the  place  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and 


TIIK   BUDDHIST    MONKS    OF   CKNTRAL   ASIA.  53 

was  met  l)y  four  lamas,  of  whom  he  says  that  their  red 
sraif,  their  yellow  cap  shaped  like  a  mitre,  their  grave 
iiHinners  and  low  voices,  made  on  him  a  profound  impres- 
sion. "They  seemed,"  said  he,  "to  waft  towards  us  the 
lucatli  of  a  monastic  religious  life.  In  order  not  to  dis- 
turb the  deep  silence  which  liushed  tlie  place,  the  bells  on 
the  horses  were  stufl'ed  with  straw.  Slowly  and  without 
speaking  tliey  ])assed  along  those  calm  and  deserted 
streets."  Tiiis  .solemn  and  majestic  silence,  as  he  calls  it, 
was  only  intermitted  by  the  lioUow  and  melancholy  sound 
(la  inMu,  which  marked  the  watches  of  the  night. 

He  here  inhabited  a  house  lent  to  liim  without  charge 
liy  its  owner,  wlio  was  one  of  tliese  peaceful  monks.  It  con- 
tained large  rooms,  a  kitclien  with  cooking  utensils,  and  a 
stable  for  liis  horse  and  mule.  Hereupon  the  good  IJoman 
Catholic  e.xclaims:  "How  powerful  is  religion  over  the 
lieart  cf  man,  even  when  it  is  a  false  religion !  What  a 
difference  between  these  lamas,  so  hospitable,  generous, 
and  brotherly  in  their  treatment  of  strangers,  and  the 
C(Jvetous  Chinese,  wlio  even  demand  payment  of  the  trav- 
eller for  a  glass  of  water  ! "  The  lamas  helped  him  move 
into  his  house,  carrying  liis  baggage  on  their  shoulders; 
swept  liis  rooms,  liglited  his  fire,  got  ready  the  stable,  and 
iiiiished  by  giving  liim  a  dinner. 

Four  festivals  are  kept  every  year  in  this  convent,  to 
which  pilgrims  come  in  vast  numbers.  One  is  called  the 
Feast  of  Flowers.  On  this  occasion  a  lari^^e  number  of 
colossal  figures  of  men,  animals,  and  plants  are  displayed, 
ill  manufactured  for  the  occasion  out  of  fresh  butter, 
moulded  and  painted  so  as  to  resemble  life.  Three  months 
are  occupied  in  preparing  this  display.  Some  of  the  lamas 
are  artists  who  work  on  the  designs ;  others  mix  and 
knead  the  butter,  in  a  ])eculiar  way,  to  make  it  firm  ; 
others  model  it  into  the  proper  shapes;  and  others  add  the 


54     EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

colors.  Of  course  tliis  is  done  in  cold  weather.  When 
the  day  arrives,  the  flowers  are  shown  placed  on  scaffold- 
ings in  the  open  air  in  the  evening,  and  are  beautifully 
illuminated  by  innumerable  lamps.  Father  Hue  was  sur- 
prised at  the  high  artistic  skill  displayed  in  these  figures. 
They  were  full  of  animation,  the  attitudes  natural,  the 
costumes  graceful.  The  furs  of  animals,  the  feathers  of 
birds,  the  wool  of  sheep,  were  so  well  executed  that  they 
seemed  as  real  as  life.  Wherever  the  head  of  Buddha 
appeared  it  was  not  in  the  Tartar  type  of  face,  but  in  that 
of  the  Hindoo  Aryan ;  wdth  noble  and  majestic  features, 
tlie  hair  lono-  and  wavinj]^.  When  the  Grand  Lama  of  the 
convent  came  forth  to  head  the  procession,  accompanied 
by  his  high  dignitaries.  Father  Hue  was  astonished  to  find 
him  dressed  like  a  Eoman  Catholic  bishop ;  with  a  mitre  on 
his  head,  a  crozier  in  his  hand,  and  a  violet  mantle  on  his 
shoulders,  exactly  in  the  form  of  a  cope. 

One  feature  which  distinguishes  Buddhism  is  its  intense 
interest  in  knowledge.  It  is  the  intellect  seeking  for 
knowledge.  Buddha  is  a  word  signifying  the  Knowing 
One.  In  this  respect  Buddhism  is  the  "  Protestantism  of 
Asia,"  a  name  I  gave  it  in  my  work  on  "  Ten  Great  Ee- 
ligions  ;"  a  name  justified,  also,  as  I  shall  show  directly,  by 
other  essential  characteristics. 

Protestantism  in  Europe  was  an  awakening  of  the  intel- 
lect. It  included  a  demand  for  the  rights  of  individual 
opinion  and  inquiry.  Xow  observe  what  Father  Hue  tells 
us  of  the  system  of  the  lamas  at  Kounboum. 

"The  lamas  are  regarded  as  students  during  all  tlieir 
lives,  for  religious  science  is  believed  to  be  inexhaustible. 
Tiiey  are  distributed  into  four  Faculties.  1.  The  Faculty 
of  Mystical  knowledge,  or  rules  for  a  life  of  contemplation. 
2.  The  Faculty  of  the  Liturgy,  or  study  of  religious  ceremo- 
nies.    3.  The  Faculty  of  Medicine ;  having  for  its  object 


THE    BUDDHIST    MuNKS    UF    CENTRAL   ASIA.  55 

the  four  hundred  and  forty  diseases  of  the  human  body, 
with  the  materia  mcdica,  and  methods  of  cure.  4.  The 
Faculty  of  Prayer ;  which  is  the  highest  of  all.  There  are 
thirteen  divisions  or  classes  of  books  on  prayer,  each  con- 
taining numerous  volumes.  There  are  competitive  exami- 
nations for  degrees  and  honors  in  this  study.  The  victor 
is  mounted  on  the  shoulders  of  the  vanquished,  and  car- 
ried in  trium})]i  to  his  home.  These  exercises  take  place 
in  a  large  hall,  wliere  the  students  sit  on  the  ground ;  and 
the  professors  on  a  platform,  ready  to  answer  any  ques- 
tions which  may  be  put  to  them. 

A  devout  and  wealtliy  pilgrim  to  these  monasteries  will 
often  give  a  tea-party  to  the  lamas ;  and,  as  there  are  four 
thousand  in  this  one  convent,  the  simplest  "  tea  "  cannot  be 
given  for  less  than  one  hundred  dollars.  A  king  visiting 
the  convent  will  sometimes,  during  a  week  or  more,  give 
a  "  tea "  every  day,  with  cakes  and  butter  and  a  distribu- 
tion of  silver. 

Some  lamas  occupy  themselves,  like  the  early  Benedic- 
tines, in  copying  books ;  or,  like  the  modern  Benedictines 
of  St.  Maur,  in  writing  and  printing  theological  works. 

One  of  the  benevolent  practices  of  these  good  monks 
was  to  furnish  horses  for  way  travellers.  Tlieir  method  of 
doing  this  charity  was  ingenious  and  economical.  They 
drew  pictures  of  horses  on  pieces  of  paper,  and  then,  going 
to  the  top  of  a  mountain  on  a  windy  day,  they  tossed  them 
into  the  air ;  and,  as  they  believed,  they  were  borne  by  the 
wind  to  the  poor  travellers  in  all  parts  of  tlie  world,  and 
there  changed,  by  the  power  of  Buddha,  into  real  horses. 

On  an  evening  appointed  for  the  purpose  a  great  cere- 
mony is  j)erformed  in  order  to  drive  away  demons.  From 
all  tlie  houses  along  the  sides  of  the  mountain  innumerable 
lanterns  are  suspended,  with  red  lights ;  and  the  four 
thousand  lamas,  seated  on  the  roofs,  chant  wild  prayers, 


56  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN   EELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

blowing  horns  at  intervals,  and  end  by  one  great  cry  given 
with  terrific  force. 

The  services  in  the  churches  of  these  convents  must 
have  reminded  Father  Hue  of  his  own  ritual.  A  conch  is 
blown  loudly  three  times  for  calling  the  monks.  The 
chief  lama  is  seated  on  a  kind  of  bishop's  throne.  The 
monks  make  prostrations  as  they  pass  before  liim.  A  lit- 
tle bell  tinkles,  and  then  all  begin  to  murmur  their  prayers 
from  a  roll  on  their  knees.  The  bell  is  rung  again,  and  a 
double  choir  chants  a  hymn,  to  a  grave  and  harmonious 
strain.  The  interior  of  the  temple  is  adorned  with  paint- 
ings and  images  like  those  of  a  Catholic  church. 

I  once  saw,  in  the  Cathedral  at  Antwerp,  an  old  man 
going  on  his  knees  from  one  chapel  and  shrine  to  another, 
stopping  before  each  to  repeat  his  prayers.  A  similar  re- 
ligious service  is  performed  by  the  Tartar  Buddhists.  They 
sometimes  spend  a  whole  day  in  going  round  on  the  out- 
side of  the  temples,  prostrating  themselves  at  full  length  on 
the  ground  at  every  step.  This  is  done  in  the  coldest 
weather  and  in  the  nudst  of  terrible  storms.  Often,  as  an 
additional  penance,  or  to  procure  additional  merit,  they  will 
carry  a  great  weight  of  sacred  books  on  their  backs. 

But  alleviations  are  sometimes  found  to  make  these 
religious  observances  less  onerous.  As  the  pilgrim  in  the 
story,  who  was  ordered,  as  a  penance,  to  walk  a  long  dis- 
tance with  peas  in  his  shoes,  took  the  liberty  of  easing  his 
task  by  first  boiling  his  peas,  so  the  Buddhists  have  in- 
vented their  famous  contrivance  of  prayer-mills,  by  which 
to  obtain  the  merit  of  prayer  without  the  trouble  of  praying. 
Father  Hue  saw  many  of  these  mills.  They  have  a  revolv- 
ing wheel  on  which  are  pasted  numerous  prayers.  Every 
time  it  is  turned  it  is  considered  that  as  much  merit  is 
acquired  as  if  all  the  prayers  had  been  said  aloud.  Some- 
times these  wheels  are  put  up  by  the  side  of  the  road,  so 


THE   BUDDHIST   MONKS   OF  CENTRAL  ASIA.  57 

that  a  traveller  may  acquire  merit  by  giving  them  a  twirl 
as  he  passes.  A  still  more  ingenious  contrivance  is  to  fill 
a  barrel  lull  of  written  prayers,  say  one  thousand,  and  then 
arrange  it  by  the  side  of  a  brook,  so  that  the  water  shall 
turn  it  continually,  niglit  and  day.  In  this  way  they  can 
easily  acquire  the  merit  of  having  said  several  millions  of 
l)rayers  every  day. 

Some  of  the  lamas  told  Father  Hue  that  these  ceremo- 
nies were  merely  to  anmse  tlie  ignorant.  "These  simple 
Tartars,"  said  lie,  "need  very  simple  rites.  They  could 
not  understand  anything  higher.  Their  docility  and  rev- 
creiice  is  cultivated  bv  such  practices.  But  the  better 
educated  Buddhist  knows  that  God  is  one  and  from  all 
eternity ;  a  spiritual  substance  who  cannot  be  represented 
by  picture  or  statue.  In  one  country  he  is  called  Buddha, 
in  another  Fo  ;  elsewhere  by  other  names.  Your  doctrine, 
O  lama  of  the  western  heavens,  seems  to  me  to  be  much 
the  same  as  ours." 

The  same  opinion  was  entertained  by  the  Regent  of 
I^assa,  a  very  learned  and  religious  man,  who  made  Father 
Hue  explain  to  him  the  main  principles  of  Christianity. 
He  maintained  that  the  two  religions  were  the  same,  with 
the  exception  of  two  points,  creation  and  metempsychosis. 
Instead  of  ci'eation,  he  said  that  all  was  eternal  proces- 
sion. Sun  and  moon  and  earth  and  all  things  proceed 
continually  from  Ihiddha,  and  return  into  him  again  by  a 
])erpetual  metempsychosis.  The  object  of  life  is  to  escape 
this  metempsychosis,  and  be  absorbed  into  Buddha.  Thus 
we  see  that  this  enlightened  Buddhist  was  far  from  beini; 
an  atheist  or  a  believer  in  annihilation,  which  his  religion 
is  often  supposed  to  teach.  We  have  already  seen  that  the 
Buddhists  have  great  faith  in  prayer ;  and  how  can  those 
who  pray  be  atheists  ?  They  worship  Buddha  as  a  supreme 
being  who  was  once  incarnate  in  the  form  of  a  man. 


58  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

There  has  been  a  succession  of  such  Bucldhas,  each  in 
turn  becoming  the  supreme  ruler  of  the  universe,  and  then 
retiring  into  the  rest  of  Nirvana.  This  is  not  atheism; 
nor  is  it,  surely,  a  belief  in  annihilation  to  seek  to  be 
absorbed  into  the  Infinite  Being. 

At  Lassa,  Father  Hue  saw  a  touching  practice  which 
pleased  him,  though  it  mortified  him  to  think  of  the  cities 
of  Europe  where  such  a  custom  would  be  considered  ab- 
surd. Every  evening,  at  sunset,  the  whole  population, 
men,  women,  and  children,  leave  off  their  business  and 
assemble  in  the  public  squares  and  other  places  to  pray 
together.  They  sit  on  the  ground,  and  each  one  slowly 
chants  his  prayers  in  an  undertone ;  and  this  solemn  har- 
mony pervades  the  whole  city.  Wherever  you  are,  you 
hear  this  murmur,  like  the  voice  of  many  waters,  rising  on 
the  quiet  air.  And  does  it  not  reach  the  throne  of  God,  if 
sincere,  just  as  certainly  as  if  they  addressed  him  as  Jeho- 
vah instead  of  calling  him  Buddha  ? 

§  8.  Resemhlcmccs  between  the  Buddhist  and  Bonian  Catho- 
lic rituals.  —  We  have  spoken  at  some  length  of  the 
Buddhist  monasteries  in  Chinese  Tartary  and  Thibet,  thus 
graphically  described  by  our  French  missionary.  Similar 
convents  are  found  in  the  other  Buddhist  countries,  which 
comprise  the  whole  of  Eastern  Asia;  notably,  the  Empires 
of  Japan  and  China,  Mantchooria,  Mongolia,  Siam,  Burmah, 
Anam,  Nepaul,  and  Ceylon.  In  these  countries  the  Bud- 
dhist priesthood  are  monks,  differing  from  each  other  in  their 
rules  and  customs,  as  the  Benedictines,  Augustinians,  Fran- 
ciscans, and  Jesuits  differ,  or  as  the  Trappists  differ  from 
tlie  Sisters  of  Charity.  All  the  Buddhist  monks,  like  the 
Christian  monks,  are  bound  by  the  three  great  vows  of 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  which  they  keep  more  or 
less  strictly.  They  escape  from  the  vow  of  poverty,  as 
Christian  monks  have  done,  by  amassing  great  wealth  as 


THE   BUDDHIST    MONKS   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  69 

comiiuuiities,  though  not  chiiniing  any  ownership  as  indi- 
viduals. j\li'.  S[)cnce  Hardy  tells  us  that  the  best  lands  in 
Ceylon  belong  to  the  priesthood,  just  as  in  pAiropean  coun- 
tries the  clergy  came  to  own  a  third  of  the  laud  in  many 
kingdoms.  This  property  belonging  to  the  Buddhist  tem- 
ples is  exemjjted  from  taxation,  just  as  the  clergy-lands  in 
Europe  have  been  exemi)ted  from  taxation,  liobert  Knox, 
a  captive  in  Kandy,  a  city  of  Ceylon,  in  1G50,  says  :  "  Unto 
each  of  the  pagodas  there  are  great  revenues  of  land, 
allotted  to  them  by  former  kings,  which  have  much  im- 
paired the  revenues  of  the  Crown."  He  adds,  curiously 
enough,  that  "  the  farmers  who  hire  these  lands  of  the  pa- 
godas have  a  much  easier  time  than  others,  and  their  taxes 
are  more  light,  so  that  they  are  envied  by  the  others." 
Just  so,  in  Europe,  those  who  occupied  abbey-lands  were 
generally  better  treated  than  those  who  were  the  vassals  of 
feudal  barons  or  kings. 

In  ihct,  nothing  in  the  homologons  of  history  is  more 
striking  than  to  see  the  same  facts  reproducing  them- 
selves in  Asiatic  Buddhism  and  European  Christianity.  All 
Roman  Catholic  travellers  in  the  East  have  been  amazed  at 
finding  the  familiar  customs  of  their  church  existing,  from 
time  immemorial,  among  the  Buddhists.  A  Portuguese 
missionary.  Father  Bury,  when  he  saw  the  Chinese  bonzes 
tonsured,  using  rosaries  in  prayer,  saying  their  prayers  in 
an  ancient  language  unknown  to  the  people,  and  kneeling 
before  images,  cried  out :  "  There  is  not  an  article  of  dress, 
or  a  saccM'dotal  function,  or  a  single  ceremony  of  the  Rom- 
ish Church,  which  the  Devil  has  not  imitated  in  this 
country."  Mr.  Davis  speaks  of  the  celibacy  of  the  Bud- 
dhist clergy,  their  monasteries  and  nunneries,  their  strings 
of  beads,  their  chanted  prayers,  their  incense  and  censers, 
and  their  candles  lighted  in  the  pagodas  in  daytime.  Mr. 
Medhurst,  in  his  work  on  China,  says  he  has  frequently 


60  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

seen  the  image  of  a  virgin,  called  "  The  Queen  of  Heaven," 
having  an  infant  in  her  arms,  and  holding  a  cross.  In 
Thibet,  as  we  have  said,  there  is  a  Dalai- Lama,  who  is,  in 
reality,  a  Buddhist  Pope.  The  theory  that  the  Buddhist 
customs  have  been  borrowed  from  Christianity  cannot  be 
true,  since  many  of  them  are  older  than  Christianity.  We 
liave  Hindoo  dramas,  written  one  or  two  centuries  before 
Clirist,  in  which  the  Buddhist  mendicant  monk  appears, 
asking  alms,  just  as  he  does  to-day.  The  worship  of  relics 
is  older  than  the  time  of  Christ ;  as  appears  from  tlie  fact 
tlmt  stupas,  or  topes,  have  been  opened,  and  the  relics  of 
Buddliist  missionaries  found,  deposited  therein  at  least 
two  hundred  and  twenty  years  before  Christ,  showing  that 
this  relic  worship  belonged  to  the  very  earliest  period  of 
the  religion. 

This  phenomenon  is  so  curions  that  I  will  state  the  facts 
more  fully.  There  is  an  historic  work,  written  in  Ceylon 
about  A.D.  460  or  470,  which  is  based  on  still  older  histo- 
ries. It  was  translated  by  Mr.  Upham  and  by  George 
Turnour,  and  gives  the  most  authentic  account  we  have 
of  early  Buddliism.  TJiis  book,  the  Malia-vxinso,  men- 
tions two  missionaries,  Kassapo  and  Madjima  (or  Mady- 
hyama),  who  preached  among  the  Himalaya  mountains. 
Their  names,  journeys,  preachings,  suherings,  are  described 
in  this  history.  And  when,  in  1851,  the  second  Sanclii- 
iopc  was  opened,  by  Major  Cunningham,  the  relics  of  these 
very  missionaries,  who  lived  two  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  were  found.  The  tope  was  a  solid  hemisphere,  built 
of  stone,  thirty-niue  feet  in  diameter,  with  a  basement  six 
ieet  high  projecting  five  feet  around  it,  surrounded  by  a 
stone  railing,  with  sculptures.  This  tope  had  remained  at 
Bhilsa,  in  Central  India,  in  a  perfect  condition,  except 
that  it  is  overgrow^n  with  plants,  for  two  thousand  years. 
On  being  opened  there  was  discovered  in  the  centre  a  sniall 


THE    BUDDHIST    MONKS   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  Gl 

olmmber  made  of  six  stones.  Inside  of  tliis  was  a  relic-box 
of  wliite  sandstone.  Inside  of  this  were  f(jur  caskets  of 
steatite,  a  sacreil  stone  among  the  lUuldhists,  eacli  containing 
small  portions  of  burnt  liuman  bones.  On  ihe  lid  of  one 
was  inscrilieil :  "  Ilelics  of  tlie  emancipated  Kasyapa  Gotra, 
missionary  t(>  all  Hemawanta;"  on  the  other:  "  Kelics  of 
the  emancipated  jMadyhama."  These  relics  had  remained 
in  the  tope  since  the  age  of  Asoka,  two  hundred  and  lifty 
years  before  Christ ;  showing  that  the  adoration  of  saints 
and  of  their  relics  existed  in  iiuddhism  in  the  third  century 
after  its  beginning,  just  as  the  adoration  of  the  relics  of 
Christian  martyrs  l>egan  in  about  the  third  or  fourth  century 
of  Christianity. 

§  4.  Fnscnptionfi  of  King  Asoka,  B.  C.  27G.  —  The  oldest 
original  documents  that  we  possess  in  regard  to  Ihiddhism 
arc  thirteen  in3{'ii])tions  cut  in  the  rock  by  order  of  Asoka, 
who  reigned  thirty-six  years  from  the  year  B.C.  27G ;  that 
is  (if  Sakya-Muni  died  B.C.  543)  about  two  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  years  after  the  death  of  the  Buddha.  Of  the 
authenticity  of  these  edicts  St.  Hilaire  says  there  can  be  no 
question.  Several  copies  of  them  have  been  fouml  en- 
graven in  different  parts  of  India.  Asoka,  or  Pi-ya-dosi, 
dill  for  Buddhism  what  Constantine  did  for  Christianity. 
He  made  it  the  religion  of  the  State,  about  three  hundred 
yeai*s  after  its  origin.^ 

These  imperial  edicts  all  have  a  moral  character.  They 
are  moral  eonnnands,  whieh  must  have  been  inspired  by 
Ids  new  faith.  They  forbid  the  killing  of  animals;  they 
command  that  wholesome  fruit-trees,  vegetables,  and  roots 
be  planted  everywhere  for  the  use  of  man;  and  wells  dug  and 
shade  trees  planted  along  the  roads  for  the  comfort  of  men 
and  animals.     Asoka  declares  that  liberality  is  good ;  not 

1  See  two  of  tln'se  ]nllars  in  the  illustrations  of  cave-temples  at  Karli 
ami  Klloi-a;  pbito  VIII. 


62  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

to  injure  living  creatures  is  good;  and  to  abstain  from 
slander  and  extravagance  is  good.  He  recommends  the 
loosing  of  the  bonds  of  those  who  are  bound,  and  the  lib- 
eration of  captives.  He  appoints  ministers  of  morality, 
who  shall  everywhere  inculcate  moral  duties,  —  duties  to 
parents,  friends,  children,  relations,  to  Brahman  priests  and 
Buddhist  mendicants.  He  also  appoints  persons  to  receive 
and  transmit  to  him,  at  all  times,  even  in  his  hours  of  rec- 
reation, the  wishes  of  his  people.  He  declares  that  his 
principal  desire  is  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  world,  to  be 
blameless  himself  toward  all  creatures,  to  make  them  happy 
here,  and  prepare  tliem  to  attain  Swerga,  or  the  Hindoo 
Heaven.  He  commands  his  children  and  descendants  to 
labor  in  the  same  way  for  the  common  good,  but  tells 
them  that  it  is  a  work  of  great  difficulty.  He  also  pro- 
claims universal  toleration  for  the  ministers  of  all  relis:- 
ions ;  since  all  have  the  same  purpose,  moral  restraint  and 
purity.  He  declares  that  festivals  and  sacrifices  to  please 
the  gods  are  of  little  use,  but  that  the  true  festival  is  per- 
forming the  duties  of  respect  to  good  men,  and  liberality 
to  teachers.  All  outward  fame  and  glory  he  considers  as 
chaff,  and  worthless.  He  declares  that  all  forms  of  relig- 
ious belief  are  to  be  respected  and  honored,  and  that  a  man 
oiiglit  to  honor  his  own  faith  without  blaming  that  C)f 
others,  and  even  he  ought  sometimes  to  praise  the  faith 
which  is  different  from  his  own ;  but  he  who  thinks  to 
exalt  Ins  own  religion  by  blaming  that  of  others  injures 
both,  for  peace  and  concord  are  desirable. 

The  doctrine  of  these  oldest  Buddhist  monuments  is,  how- 
ever, of  a  Buddhism  without  Buddha.  The  spirit  of  Bud- 
dha appears  in  this  tenderness  toward  all  living  things, 
and  this  respect  for  all  religions ;  but  there  is  no  word  in 
any  of  the  tablets  concerning  the  authority  of  Sakya-Muni 
or  liis  teaching,  and  nothing  of  the  monastic  life.     Com- 


PT.ATK    VII. 


KiG.  1-      Exterior  of  Cave  Temple. 


Fig.  2.     Interior  of  the  same  Temple. 


THE   BUDDHIST   MONKS   OF   CKNTIiAL    ASIA.  Go 

ing  down  to  the  time  of  the  Sanclii  monuments  there  is 
still  no  asceticism.  On  tliese  sculptured  stones,  on  wliich 
innumerable  ti<,aires  and  groups  ai)pear  which  are  older 
than  Christianity,  all  is  cheerful,  happy  life.  Buddha  ap- 
pears not  as  an  ascetic  but  as  a  young  prince.  There  is 
feasting  and  music,  d;incing  and  revelling,  flowers,  fruits, 
and  animals. 

§  5.  Buddhist  monastic  life  in  Ccijlon,  Burmah,  China, 
etc.  —  We  have  seen  what  the  monastic  life  is  in  Tliibet 
and  Tartary ;  let  us  see  what  it  is  in  Ceylon.  This  island 
is  the  only  part  of  India  where  Buddhism  now  exists ;  but 
here  it  has  continued  as  the  dominant  religion  ever  since 
it  was  first  introduced  under  the  reign  of  Asoka,  accord- 
ing to  the  historic  books  of  Ceylon,  almost  three  hundred 
years  before  Christ.  AVe  have  an  account  of  Buddhism  in 
Ceylon  seven  hundred  years  later,  about  A.D.  400,  in  the 
travels  of  the  Chinese  ])ilgrim  Fa-Heen,  who  found  this 
religion  in  the  most  flourishing  condition  at  that  time. 
The  island  he  estimates  to  contain  sixty  thousand  monks, 
living  in  difl'erent  convents,  all  mendicants  and  with  no 
personal  property,  though  their  monasteries  were  rich. 
Tlie  people  of  the  island  assembled  regularly,  four  times  a 
month,  to  hear  ])reachiug. 

Of  the  condition  of  Buddhism  in  Ceylon  at  the  present 
time,  Spence  Hardy  gives  us  a  full  account.  He  thinks 
there  are  only  twenty-five  hundred  priests  in  the  island, 
or  one  to  every  four  hundred  inhabitants,  which  is  much 
fewer  than  in  Burmah  or  Siam. 

The  priests  carry  their  alms-bowl  from  house  to  house, 
and  are  commoidy  barefooted  and  bareheaded.  P'ach  priest 
may  own  tln-ee  robes,  but  no  more ;  one  underneatli,  one 
outside,  and  a  cloak.  He  must  keep  his  head  constantly 
shaven,  and  for  this  reason  is  provided  with  a  razor.  He 
must  not  drink  any  intoxicating  liquor,  nor  eat  anything 


64  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

after  twelve,  or  noon.  Unless  sick,  he  must  ask  only  for 
rice,  and  not  for  butter,  honey,  fish,  or  flesh ;  though  when 
these  are  given  him  he  is  not  obliged  to  refuse  them.  He 
must  pass  through  a  novitiate  before  he  becomes  a  monk. 
The  vows  are  not  irrevocable,  as  they  are  in  the  Eoraan 
Catholic  orders.  The  novice  shaves  his  head,  puts  on  his 
yellow  robe,  and  then  learns  to  repeat  the  threefold 
formula :  — 

"  I  take  refuge  in  Buddha. 

"  I  take  refuge  in  the  Truth. 

"  I  take  refuge  in  the  associated  priesthood." 

He  then  repeats  the  ten  commandments  of  the  priest- 
hood, which  forbid  :  — 

1.  The  takhig  of  life. 

2.  Taking  anything  which  has  not  been  given. 

3.  All  intercourse  with  the  other  sex. 
4    Saying  what  is  not  true. 

5.  Tlie  use  of  intoxicating  drink. 

6.  Eating  in  the  afternoon. 

7.  Attending  dances,  musical  entertainments,  or  shows. 

8.  The  use  of  flowers,  perfumes,  or  ointment  on  the  body. 

9.  The  use  of  honorable  seats  or  couches. 
10.  Receivins:  oold  or  silver. 


"o  &" 


The  daily  observances  of  a  Buddhist  novice  are  these  :  — 
He  must  rise  before  daybreak,  clean  his  teeth,  sweep  the 
rooms  and  courts,  fetch  all  the  water  needed,  and  filter  it. 
After  this  he  must  remain  alone  to  practise  self-examina- 
tion during  three  Buddhist  hours,  or  about  one  liour  of  our 
time.  The  bell  then  rings  for  worship,  at  the  sound  of 
which  lie  goes  to  the  tope  which  contains  the  sacred  relics, 
and  offers  flowers  to  Buddha  as  if  Buddha  were  really 
present.    He  must  meditate  on  the  nine  virtues  of  Buddha, 


TUE   liUDDlllST   MU>;KS   01-    CENTUAL   ASLV.  (Jo 

with  a  fixed  mind  ;  pray  for  pardon  for  liis  faults,  prostrate 
before  the  sacred  phice,  with  his  loreliead  touching  the 
ground.  He  then  nnist  examine  his  calendar,  so  as  to 
know  the  day  of  the  month,  the  hour  of  the  day,  and  the 
year  since  the  death  of  Buddha.  Next  he  goes  out  with 
his  alms-bowl,  following  his  i)receptor;  and  when  his  bowl 
is  full  he  returns  to  his  vihara,  or  monastery,  washes  the 
feet  of  his  preceptor,  asks  if  he  is  thirsty,  and  ofi'ers  him 
iiHxl.  After  this  he  recites  some  religious  stanzas,  and 
then  takes  his  own  meal.  That  eaten,  he  meditates,  reads 
the  sacred  books,  writes,  and  asks  questions  of  his  pre- 
ceptor till  dark.  Finally  he  requests  permission  to  retire, 
repeats  his  evening  prayer,  and  lies  down. 

Mr.  Hardy  says  these  i)riests  in  Ceylon  are  hospitable, 
and  receive  travellers  as  kindly  as  tliose  Father  Hue  found 
in  Tartary.  In  travelling  he  says  he  was  never  refused 
food  or  lodging  at  a  Buddhist  monastery.  There  is  usually 
a  school  for  children  attached  to  each,  whence  the  hum  of 
their  voices  comes,  like  that  which  we  hear  in  passing  one 
of  our  own  villas^e  school-houses.  In  Burmah  the  childien 
of  the  people  are  taught  gratuitously  in  all  the  Buddhist 
monasteries. 

Eev.  Howard  ^lalcolm,  in  his  work  on  the  I>urman  Em- 
pire, which  he  visited  in  183G,  has  much  to  say  in  favor 
(as  well  as  in  censure)  of  the  Buddhists,  but  he  concludes 
thus  :  — 

"  No  false  religion,  ancient  or  modern,  is  comparable  to  this. 
...  Its  doctrines  and  practical  piety  bear  a  strong  resemblance 
to  those  of  our  own  Holy  Scripture.  There  is  scarcely  a  prin- 
ciple or  precept  in  their  sacred  books  which  is  not  also  found 
in  our  Bible.  Did  the  people  but  act  up  to  the  principles  of 
peace  and  love  in  tlicir  religion,  oppression  and  injury  would 
be  known  no  more  within  their  borders."  He  adds  that  Bud- 
dhism has  "  no  mythology  of  obscene  and  ferocious  deities,  no 

5 


66  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

sanguinary  and  impure  observances,  no  self-inflicted  tortures, 
no  tyrannizing  priesthood,  no  confounding  of  right  and  wrong. 
In  its  moral  code  it  seems  to  have  followed  genuine  traditions ; 
in  all  respects  it  is  the  best  religion  man  has  ever  invented." 

In  Burmah,  Buddhism  has  been  preserved  in  great  purity. 
Its  temples,  monasteries,  and  topes  are  innumerable.  The 
monks  confine  their  religious  services  to  preaching.  They 
wear  the  yellow  robe,  have  the  shaven  head,  and  go  with 
bare  feet.  Their  monasteries  are  the  national  schools  of 
the  empire.  As  the  vows  are  not  irrevocable,  most  of  the 
Burman  youth  assume  the  yellow  robe  for  a  short  period 
without  becoming  professed  members.  Every  monastery 
contains  these  novices,  and  the  regular  monks,  their  teach- 
ers ;  and  is  presided  over  by  an  abbot  or  governor.  The 
monasteries  of  each  district  constitute  a  province  under  its 
provincial  head,  and  there  is  one  Grand  Master,  or  Supe- 
rior, who  governs  the  whole.  There  is  no  provision  made 
by  the  government  to  maintain  religion,  but  it  is  liberally 
supported  by  the  free-will  offerings  of  the  people.  The 
festivals,  which  are  numerous,  are  largely  attended.  The 
rosary  is  in  general  use. 

The  public  worship  of  Burmah  is  in  the  temples  or  at 
the  pagodas,  and  it  is  not  conducted  by  the  priests.  There 
is  no  ritual  like  that  of  the  Eonian  Breviary  or  the  Zend- 
Avesta.  Burman  worship  consists  of  individuals  coming  to 
the  temples  to  pray,  and  to  offer  rice  and  flowers ;  rice  in 
the  morninfT,  flowers  in  the  afternoon.  Umbrellas  are  also 
a  common  offerino;. 

Mr.  Malcolm  describes  a  visit  to  a  pagoda  in  Burmah, 
in  the  town  of  Moulmein.  This  town  contains  seventy- 
eight  pagodas,  with  five  hundred  priests.  These  pagodas 
are  solid  buildings,  of  stone  or  brick,  shaped  like  a  dome, 
with  a  gilded  spire  on  top.     Small  chapels  or  shrines  sur- 


THE  BUDDHIST  MONKS   OF  CENTRAL  ASIA.  67 

round  each,  coiitaininj,^  images.  There  is  much  gilding, 
and  tall  Hag-stall's,  witli  streamers. 

A  large  house  is  near  the  cliief  pagoda,  full  of  images  of 
Guatama,  —  handsome,  and  often  colossal.  One  is  forty 
feet  high. 

Mr.  Malcolm  was  touched  at  the  sight  of  a  man  with  a 
child  in  his  arms,  coming  up  the  hill.  He  prostrated  liim- 
sL'lf  and  prayed,  laying  his  green  leaves  before  the  idol. 
His  little  boy,  three  years  old,  knelt  and  prayed  too.  So 
sincere  and  sim])le  was  this  devotion  that  it  touched  the 
lieart  of  this  Protestant  inspector  of  missions,  as  a  like 
devotion  in  Thil)et  had  excited  the  admiration  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  missionary. 

Near  Kangoon  is  a  celebrated  pagoda.  Tlie  avenue  from 
the  city  is  lined  witli  pagodas.  This  chief  one  stands  on 
the  top  of  a  hill  which  is  cut  in  terraces.  Its  grandeur  is 
said  to  be  imposing.  It  is  an  enormous  building,  covered 
with  gilding.  All  around  are  marble  pavements,  colossal 
lions,  lofty  pillars,  enormous  stone  jars.  There  are  twenty 
or  thirty  worshippers  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  engaged  in 
prayer,  and  two  thousand  in  the  course  of  the  day. 

§  6.  Buddhist  Architecture.  Roek-cut  Temj)les  ami  Mon- 
asteries. —  Among  all  races  and  in  all  ages  building  turns 
into  architecture,  and  becomes  a  fine  art  under  the  influ- 
ence of  religion.  The  great  works  of  this  kind  are  tem- 
]>les.  The  temples  of  Karnac,  in  Egypt;  the  Parthenon,  in 
Greece ;  the  great  pagoda  of  Tanjore,  in  India,  a  pyramid 
fourteen  stories  high,  two  hundred  feet  to  tlie  top ;  the 
beautiful  Jain  tower,  at  Chittore  ;  the  Pantheon,  at  Eome  ; 
the  P»)rcelain  pagoda,  at  Nfinkin  ;  the  vast  Moluimmeihin 
mosque  at  Delhi ;  that  of  Cordova ;  the  noble  cathedrals  of 
Germany,  Italy,  and  England,  —  all  these  are  outgrowtlis 
of  the  religious  sentiment.  And  each  great  religion  d('- 
velops  its  own  style  of  architecture.     That  of  Greece  did 


6S  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

not  imitate  Egypt;  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  not 
copied  from  the  religious  editices  at  Babylon ;  wherever 
the  Mohammedan  religion  went  it  carried  a  wholly  new 
style  of  Saracenic  art,  the  same  type  in  India  as  in  Spain ; 
mediseval  Christianity  blossomed  out  in  the  thirteenth 
century  into  the  vast  minsters  which  covered  Europe ; 
and  thus  also  Buddhism,  from  the  very  beginning,  de- 
veloped a  peculiar  architecture,  all  its  own,  in  the  three 
chief  forms  of  topes  (or  memorial  monuments),  monasteries, 
and  temples.  Many  of  these  in  India  are  cut  from  the 
solid  rock.  Such  is  the  temple  of  Karli,  on  the  road  be- 
tween Bombay  and  Poonali ;  the  largest  yet  known,  and 
excavated  at  a  time  when  the  style  was  in  its  greatest 
purity,  which  was,  perhaps,  somewhere  from  about  eighty 
years  before  Christ  to  one  hundred  years  after  Christ.^ 
It  curiously  resembles  a  Christian  church,  haviug  a  nave 
and  side  aisles,  with  an  apse  and  dome  at  the  inner  end. 
Such  a  structure  might  be  used  for  Christian  worship, 
and  be  found  wholly  suitable  for  that  purpose  without 
alteration. 

With  the  Buddhist  King  Asoka  commenced  all  we  have 
of  Hindoo  architecture. 

Mr.  Fergusson  thinks  that  in  India  proper  there  remain 
as  many  as  fifty  groups  of  these  rock-cut  temples  and 
monasteries ;  making,  in  all,  not  less  than  a  thousand  yet 
existing,  nine  hundred  of  which  are  Buddhist.  The  exterior 
facades  are  nearly  perfect ;  for  a  building  carved  out  of  the 
rock  is  immutable,  liable  to  no  decay,  needing  no  repairs. 

Nine-tenths  of  these  excavated  buildings  are  in  the 
Bombay  Presidency. 

1  These  descriptions  are  taken  chiefly  from  the  works  of  James  Fergus- 
son,  Esq.,  especially  his  "Rock-cut  Temples  of  India."  The  illustrations 
here  given  are  heliotype  reproductions  from  his  drawings.  For  the  temple 
at  Karli  see  Plate  VIII.  Fie.  1. 


.fT,%^^^'^^- 


rU;.       1.  'iKI.Al       V     AN    I,       ll.Ml'l,!.      A  I        IV"lIl,| 


Fig.  2.     Kylas.      Tkmple  at  Elloka 


THE   BUDDHIST   MONKS   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  G9 

The  others  are  at  Behar  aud  Cuttack,  in  Bengal,  and 
MahavelHpore,  in  Madras.  The  reason  for  tliis  location, 
Mr.  Fergusson  thinks,  is  geological.  There  are  in  these  dis- 
tricts horizontal  strata  of  rock  of  uniform  texture,  great 
thickness,  and  witli  i)erpendicular  edges,  cropping  out  on  the 
sides  of  the  hills.^  This  made  excavation  easy,  and  the  ma- 
terial excavated  could  be  easily  disposed  of  by  being  simply 
shot  down  the  slope  of  the  hill.  Thougli  the  rock  is  hard, 
lieing  an  amygdaloid  trap,  the  construction  was  not  as  diffi- 
cult as  it  seems.  At  first  sight,  a  monolithic  temple,  dug  out 
of  rock,  appears  a  wonderful  exploit;  but  Mr.  Fergusson  says 
it  is  easier  and  cheaper  to  excavate  a  temple  than  to  build 
one.  If  there  are,  say,  fifty  thousand  cubic  feet  of  stone 
in  the  walls  of  the  building,  tliere  is  just  about  the  same 
amount  to  be  excavated  from  the  interior.  Tlien  the  ques- 
tion is,  which  is  the  easiest:  to  cut  out  fifty  thousand  feet 
of  rock,  and  shoot  it  over  the  edge  of  the  hill;  or  to 
quarry  fifty  thousand  feet,  bring  it  from  a  distance,  raise 
it,  and  set  it  ?  Tlie  excavation,  he  calculates,  would 
cost  only  one-tenth  of  building.  Now  the  Buddliist  mon- 
asteries need  not  be  in  any  particular  place,  but  could 
be  built  wherever  the  proper  stratum  of  rock  could  be 
found  ;  and  this  gives  tlie  raison  d'etre  of  these  monolitliic 
buildings. 

In  the  temple  at  Karli  we  may  notice,  in  the  engrav- 
ing,2  the  shrine  under  the  dome  of  the  apse,  three  entran- 
ces under  a  gallery,  one  great  window  over  the  gallery,  an 
arched  outer  porch  supported  by  two  stout  pillars,  a  dwarf 
colonnade  above,  mortices  in  the  rock  to  hold  the  wooden 
cornice  or  ornaments  which  are  now  gone,  and  the  lion- 
pillar  in  front  supporting  four  lions. 

Mr.  Fergusson  ("  Rock-cut  Temples  of  India,")  describes 
this  cave,  and  calls  it  the  largest  and  finest  in  India, 
1  See  Plate  V.  Fig.  1.  ^  Plate  VIII.  Fig.  1. 


70  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

and  also  the  best  preserved.  It  is  about  half  way 
between  Poena  and  Bombay.  Its  interior  dimensions  are 
one  hundred  and  two  feet  in  total  length,  and  eighty-one 
feet  in  the  length  of  the  nave.  Its  width  inside  is  forty- 
five  feet.  The  nave  is  separated,  as  in  mediaeval  Christian 
churches,  by  a  double  row  of  columns.  In  this  cave  there 
are  fifteen  on  each  side.  The  capitals  are  ornamented  with 
carved  elephants  and  human  figures,  the  sculpture  of  which 
is  good.  Behind  the  chaitya  (dagoba,  pagoda,  tope),^  or 
d(?me,  which  contains  the  sacred  relics,  are  seven  more 
pillars.  In  front  of  the  arched  opening  are  two  massive 
octagon  columns,  which  once  supported  another  screen 
consisting  of  a  plain  massive  wall ;  and  above  this  again 
were  four  dwarf  pillars.  The  mortices  show  that  this  wall 
supported  what  was  probably  a  wooden  gallery,  which  Mr. 
Fergusson  supposes  to  have  been  a  music  gallery .^ 

This  writer,  the  best  authority  on  comparative  archi- 
tecture, tells  us  that  the  arrangement  of  the  parts  in  these 
temples,  whicli  he  calls  chaitya  caves,  is  exactly  the  same 
as  the  choir  of  a  o'othic  cathedral.  Across  the  front  there 
is  always  a  screen,  with  a  gallery  over  it,  occupying  the 
place  of  a  rood-loft  or  organ-loft.  In  this  screen  are  three 
doors,  the  largest  opening  into  the  nave,  and  the  two  side 
doors  into  the  aisles,  just  as  in  most  Christian  churches. 
Above  this  screen  is  one  vast  window,  usually  of  a  horse- 
shoe form,  through  which  the  whole  light  is  thrown  on  the 
dagoha,  which  takes  the  place  of  the  high  altar  in  Catholic 

1  These  words  indicate  monuments  intended  to  preserve  relics.  Tope 
is  the  Pali  thUpa  and  the  Sanskrit  stU-pa ;  it  means  "accumulation,"  and 
has  a  sense  like  that  of  tumulus  in  Latin.  Dago})  (in  the  Ceylon  phrase) 
is  a  corruption  of  dhdtu-gojm,  i.  e.,  "  relic-presei'ver  "  ;  and  chaitya  applies 
generally  to  objects  of  worship,  whether  images,  temples,  or  sacred  trees, 
etc.  Tope,  therefore,  indicates  the  shape  of  the  monuments  ;  dagop,  or 
pagoda,  their  contents  ;  and  chaitya  their  purpose. 

2  See  the  illustration,  Plate  VIII.  Fig.  1. 


THE   BUDDHIST   MONKS   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  71 

clmiclius.  Tlie  eflect  of  this,  Mr.  Fergussuu  believes  to 
liave  been  very  striking ;  sonietliing  like  that  of  the  Pan- 
tiicou,  but  better,  since  the  light  was  not  dispersed  but 
concentrated. 

Tlie  lion-pilkir  seen  on  the  left  of  the  entrance  has  an 
inscription,  deci[)hered  by  Mr.  Prinsep,  merely  containing 
the  name  of  the  tk)nor,  and  believed  to  be  of  tlie  first  or 
second  century  i)efore  Christ.  If  so,  it  confirms  Mr.  Fer- 
gusson's  opinion  that  the  splendid  IJuddhist  architecture 
sprang  suddenly  into  existence  within  a  century  of  the 
time  when  the  region  was  converted  to  that  religion. 

This  magnificent  temple  may  be  regarded  as  the  abbey 
church  for  the  surrounding  viharas,  or  monasteries.  For 
not  only  did  the  temple  in  its  form,  with  nave,  side  aisles, 
colunnis,  organ-loft,  and  entrance  doors,  resemble  a  Christ- 
ian church ;  but  it  shows  that  the  Buddhist  monasteries, 
like  the  Christian  abbeys  of  which  we  give  plans  in  the 
next  chapter,  consisted  of  buildings  for  the  monks,  placed 
around  a  church  for  their  worship. 

Nor  does  the  parallel  end  here.  An  important  feature 
in  every  Christian  monastery  and  cathedral  is  its  cloistered 
enclosure  for  the  use  and  exercise  of  the  monks  or  canons. 
Similar  verandas  or  cloisters  are  attached  to  each  Bud- 
dhist vihara  or  monastery.  Examples  of  these  may  be 
seen,  Plate  V.  Fig.  2,  and  Plate  YI.  The  Christian  cloister 
(claustrum,  enclosure)  was  a  covered  walk  on  the  sides 
of  a  quadrangle,  to  which  it  opened  by  a  row  of  pillars  or 
arches.  The  reseml)lance  is  apparent  when  we  compare  the 
ground-plan  of  the  Buddhist  vihara  at  Ajunta,  Plate  IX., 
with  the  ground-plan  of  the  Christian  monastery,  Plate 
XIV.  The  Buddhist  vihara,  though  carved  from  solid 
rock,  is  almost  identical  in  its  arrangements  with  the  other. 
Each  has  a  quadrangle,  or  cloister,  in  the  middle,  surrounded 
by  the  monks'  cells.    Each  has  its  chapel,  or  church,  on  one 


72 


EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 


side  of  this  quadrangle.  One  would  have  supposed  that 
the  same  architect  had  given  the  design  for  each  structure ; 
and  yet  the  builders  were   so  apart  in  time,  space,  and 


• '      ft 


PLAN  or  VIHARA  CAVE  N^  2  AT  AJUNTA 


Plate  IX.  —  Ground  Plan  of  a  Buddhist  Monastery. 


THE   BUDDHIST    MONKS   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  73 

knowledge,  that  no  relation  conld  have  existed  between 
them.  The  same  spiritual  needs  invented  the  same  out- 
ward expression.     So  true  are  the  lines  of  Spenser  :  — 

"  For  of  the  soul  the  body  fonu  doth  take  ; 
Since  soul  is  lurm,  jiiid  doth  tlie  body  make." 

The  finest  series  of  Buddhist  monolitliic  caves  in  India, 
without  any  mixture  of  lirahmanism,  is  at  Ajunta,  north  of 
Bombay,  near  the  western  coast.  Ajunta  is  in  the  valley 
of  the  Taptee,  a  river  which  empties  into  the  Gulf  of  Cam- 
bay  at  Surat.  The  caves  are  near  a  ravine  which  extends 
into  the  ghaut,  or  mountain  support  of  the  table-land  of 
tlie  Deccan.  The  series  of  caves  extends  about  five  hun- 
dred yards,  and  consists  of  twenty-nine,  all  cut  from  the 
solid  rock,  and  marking  every  change  in  cave  architect- 
ure during  a  pori(^d  of  at  least  a  thousand  years.  (See 
Plate  V.  Fig.  1.)  Of  these,  four  are  churches,  and  the  rest 
monasteries. 

TliG  exterior  and  interior  of  one  of  the  best  of  these 
church-caves  are  shown  in  Plate  VII.  Figs.  1  and  2.  The 
interior  dimensions  are  about  forty-six  feet  by  twenty-four. 
Seventeen  higldy  ornamented  pillars  surround  the  nave, 
and  above  them  is  a  band,  like  a  triforium  in  a  Christian 
church,  containing  niches  with  figures  of  Buddha  sitting 
cross-legged  and  standing,  alternating  with  each  other. 
The  roof  is  ribbed  with  stone.  At  one  end  of  the  nave  is 
the  dagoba,  or  shrine,  surmounted  by  three  sacred  umbrel- 
las carved  in  stone,  almost  touchinir  the  roof. 

Tlie  viharas,  or  monastery  caves,  in  this  group  at  Ajunta, 
are  more  splendid  than  elsewhere  in  India.  The  illustra- 
tions, Plate  V.  Fig.  2,  and  Plate  VI.,  show  a  singular  taste 
and  skill.  The  massive  dwarf  columns,  in  Plate  VI.,  seem 
almost  light  and  graceful  from  the  ingenuity  of  the  con- 
struction.    Tlie  change  from  the  massive  square  base  to 


74     EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

the  many-sided  shaft,  ending  in  the  beautifully  carved 
neck  and  capital  above,  with  the  rich  ornamentation,  mar- 
vellously destroy  all  sense  of  heaviness.  The  shaft  seems 
ready  to  shoot  upward  out  of  the  base.  The  columns  in 
Plate  Y.  Fig.  2  are  different,  but  show  a  similar  good  taste 
in  the  architect.  Instead  of  capitals  we  have  finely  formed 
brackets,  with  a  like  combination  of  forms  in  the  shaft 
as  in  the  other  building. 

The  interior  represented  in  Plate  VI.  is  at  Eilora,  and 
is  called  Lanka.  Eilora  is  in  Central  India,  in  the  Nizam's 
dominions.  There  are  here  about  thirty  excavations,  of 
which  ten  are  Buddhist  and  fourteen  are  Brahmanical. 
The  rest,  probably,  are  of  the  Jaina  sect. 

The  most  beautiful  of  these  is  the  Kylas,  or  Kailasa.^ 
It  is  of  great  size,  and  profusely  ornamented.  It  stands  in 
a  rectangular  court,  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  feet  by 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  and  rests  on  four  rows  of  pilasters, 
which  are  supported  by  colossal  elephants.  It  thus  seems 
suspended  in  the  air.  The  interior  is  over  a  hundred  feet 
long  and  fifty-six  broad.  It  will  be  seen,  by  looking  at  the 
plate,  that  it  is  wholly  detached.  All  the  rock  above  and 
around  has  been  cut  away,  so  that  only  by  careful  exami- 
nation it  is  known  to  be  a  monolith.  Its  age  is  unknown, 
but  it  was  probably  a  Brahmanic  structure  built  to  eclipse, 
by  its  greater  splendor,  the  Buddhist  temples  around. 

Thus  we  have  another  illustration  of  the  fact  that  Art  is 
the  dauf^hter  of  Eelisfion.  The  earliest  and  finest  archi- 
tecture  is  religious  architecture ;  the  finest  statues  are 
those  of  the  gods;  the  noblest  paintings  are  of  the  propli- 
ets  and  sibyls,  the  madonnas  and  the  infant  Jesus ;  the 
beginning  of  poetry  was  in  psalms  and  hymns,  —  the 
Hymns  of  the  Vedas  and  Homer,  the  Psalms  of  David, 
the  sacred  songs  and  music  of  all  nations. 

1  See  Plate  VIII.  Fig.  2. 


,      THE   BUDDHIST   MONKS    OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  VfJ 

§  7.  Spirit  of  Buddhism..  lU  merits  arul  defects.  Its 
supposed  denial  of  God  and  Immm'tality.  —  In  my  work  on 
"  Ten  Great  Religions  "  I  liiive  called  Buddhism  the  Prot- 
estant Church  of  Asia,  notwithstanding  the  many  resem- 
bhmces  in  its  ritual  to  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
These  similarities  are  external,  but  inwardly  Ruddhism  is 
much  nearer  to  Protestantism.  The  essential  distinction 
between  tlie  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  Church  is 
in  regard  to  the  niethoil  of  salvation,  —  the  latter  teach- 
ing tliat  we  are  saved  by  sacraments,  the  former  that  we 
are  saved  by  personal  faith.  Roth  inculcate  good  works  ; 
but  the  root  of  good  works,  according  to  one,  is  the  sacra- 
mental grace  which  is  mediated  through  the  Church,  —  in 
the  other  they  result  from  faith  produced  in  each  soul  by 
the  intluence  of  tlie  Holy  Spirit.  In  this  central  idea 
Buddhism  is  like  Protestantism.  It  arose  in  Asia  as  the 
latter  came  in  Europe,  in  the  revolt  of  the  soul  against  a 
priesthood,  —  a  revolt  of  human  nature  against  a  religious 
caste,  of  private  conscience  against  the  authority  of  a 
church.  Brahmanism  and  Roman  Catholicism  make  a 
church  of  the  priesthood,  not  of  the  people,  and  put  the 
essence  of  reliorion  in  sacrifices.  Buddhism  is  a  church  of 
the  laity ;  it  rejects  caste,  it  has  no  sacrifices.  It  was  in 
Asia,  what  Protestantism  was  in  Europe,  a  protest  of  the 
intellect  against  autliority,  of  humanity  against  caste,  of 
personal  liberty  against  the  dominion  of  an  order.  Brah- 
manism and  R(jman  Catholicism  aie  more  religious;  Bud- 
dhism and  Protestantism  more  morid  and  intellectual. 
Like  Protestantism,  Buddhism  depends  much  on  preach- 
ino:.  Mr.  Hodiirson,  who  discovered  and  translated  the 
Sanskrit  scriptures  of  Nepaul,  says  :  *'  One  infallible  diag- 
nostic of  Buddhism  is  belief  in  the  human  intellect." 

The  spirit  of  Buddhism  is  rational  and  humane.     It  is 
rational,  because  it  believes  in  truth  as  the  source  of  good- 


76  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTOEY. 

ness,  and  in  the  possibility  of  all  men's  knowing  the  truth. 
It  is  a  teaching  religion,  and  has  from  the  beginning 
sought  to  preach,  and  has  made  converts  by  preaching,  not 
by  force.  It  has  established  schools,  and  in  its  monasteries 
the  people  are  taught  the  elements  of  education.  Bud- 
dhism has  never  been  propagated  by  force  or  fraud.  It 
has  not  deceived  and  it  has  not  persecuted.  It  has  no 
Inquisition,  and  it  is  tolerant  of  all  other  religions. 

Buddhism  is  a  humane  religion.  It  respects  all  souls ; 
it  abolished  caste ;  it  has  founded  hospitals,  not  only  for 
men  but  also  for  animals ;  and  no  bloody  sacrifices  have 
ever  smoked  on  its  innocent  altars,  where  the  offerings 
are  fruits  and  flowers.  In  describing  the  festivals  in 
Nepaul,  Mr.  Old  field  states  that  no  immodest  pictures  are 
permitted  among  the  thousands  exhibited  on  these  occa- 
sions, and  that  the  women  who  take  part  are  perfectly 
modest  and  well  behaved.  The  same  fact  was  remarked 
by  Mr.  Malcolm  in  Burraah. 

This  humane  temper,  and  this  spirit  of  good-will,  had 
its  origin  in  the  character  of  the  founder  of  the  system. 
We  know  at  least  this  concerning  him,  that  he  believed  in 
human  nature  and  in  the  power  of  truth. 

Of  the  character  of  Sakya-Muni,  St.  Hilaire  says  :  — 

"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that,  with  the  solitary  exception 
of  Jesus  Christ,  there  is,  among  the  founders  of  religion,  no 
character  more  pure  or  more  touching  than  that  of  the  Bud- 
dha. His  life  is  spotless.  His  heroism  equals  his  strength  of 
conviction.  His  example  is  irreproachable.  He  is  the  com- 
plete model  himself  of  all  the  virtues  which  he  teaches.  His 
self-denial,  his  charity,  his  unceasing  gentleness,  never  fail. 
He  quits  the  Court  of  his  father  at  twenty -nine  to  become  a 
mendicant  monk.  In  six  years  of  retirement  and  isolation  he 
prepares  his  doctrine.  He  propagates  it  by  the  simple  power 
of  argument  and  persuasion  during  fifty  years ;  and  when  he 


THE   BUDDHIST    MONKS   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  77 

dies,  in  the  arms  of  his  disciples,  it  is  with  the  serenity  of  a 


Hmic. 


The  Litest  translator  of  tlie  original  Buddhist  scriptures, 
T.  W.  lihys  Daviils,^  says  of  this  reformer:  — 

"  Never  in  the  liistory  of  the  world  had  a  scheme  of  salvation 
been  put  forth  so  simple  in  its  nature,  —  so  even  antagonistic 
to  the  belief  in  a  soul,  the  belief  in  God,  and  the  hope  of  a 
future  life  ;  and  we  must  not  allow  our  estimate  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  event  to  be  influenced  by  our  disagreement  from 
the  opinions  put  fortli.  It  was  a  turning-point  in  the  history 
(^f  man  when  a  reformer,  full  of  the  most  earnest  moral  })ur- 
p(\se  and  trained  in  all  the  intellectual  culture  of  liis  time,  put 
forth  deliberately,  and  witli  a  knowlodjj^e  of  the  opposing  views, 
the  doctrine  of  a  salvation  to  be  found  here,  in  tins  life,  in  an 
inward  change  of  heart,  to  be  brought  about  by  perseverance 
in  a  mere  system  of  self-culture  and  self-control." 

If  we  inquire  into  the  good  and  evil  of  Buddhism  we 
are  told  by  St.  Hihiire  that  the  merits  of  the  system  are  its 
practical  Jiims ;  its  object  to  save  all  mankind  from  evil ; 
its  contempt  for  vulgar  and  low  pleasures;  its  charity;  its 
sentiment  of  equality ;  its  kindness ;  its  resignation  ;  its 
truthfulness  ;  its  respect  for  family  life.  Its  defects  and 
faults  he  characterizes  as  a  want  of  power  to  create  any 
true  social  life  ;  its  egotistical  tendencies,  arising  from  the 
habit  of  being  always  occupied  about  one's-self ;  its  loss  of 
the  idea  of  goodness  as  a  reality  ;  its  scepticism  ;  its  incura- 
ble des])air;  its  absolute  contempt  for  life;  and  finally,  its 
atheism. 

In  Ihiddhism,  St.  TTilaire  says,  man  is  left  to  himself. 
There  is  no  divine  inspiration,  no  help  from  on  high.     All 

1  "Ruddliist  Suttas;"  translati-d  from  Pali,  by  T.  W.  Rliys  Davids, 
•'Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  vol.  iii. 


78  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

above  is  darkness.  There  is  no  illumination  from  any 
higher  power.  Karma,  or  fate,  oppresses  the  soul.  The 
inspiring  ideas  of  permanent  human  personality,  of  indi- 
vidual freedom,  and  of  Supreme  Cause,  disappear. 

If  the  Buddha  is  a  god,  he  is  only  one  of  a  series 
of  gods.  The  gods  are  all  finite,  temporal,  and  wholly 
human. 

The  sense  of  the  Infinite,  the  Perfect,  the  Absolute,  dis- 
appears in  Buddhism.  This  destroys  the  spring  of  hope, 
and  leads  to  tlie  apathetic  civilization  of  all  Buddhist 
nations.  Religion,  as  aspiration  to  the  perfect,  is  the 
spring  of  movement.  The  idea  of  the  infinite  and  ^ternal 
personal  God,  who  is  also  Father  and  Friend,  —  this  is  the 
real  motive  power  in  Christian  civilization.  Ability  to 
combine  God  and  man,  time  and  eternity,  in  one  idea  of 
God,  "  above  all,  through  all,  and  in  all,"  is  not  found  in 
the  relis^ion  of  Buddha. 

Another  defect  in  Buddhism  is  the  absence  of  a  sense  of 
creative  intelligence  in  the  universe.  Things  rise  and 
fall  by  nature.  We  need,  beside  creation  by  law,  a  crea- 
tion by  wisdom  and  love. 

Also  Providence  is  wanting.  In  Buddhism  man  is  his 
own  Savior.  It  substitutes  Prudence  for  Providence.  All 
evil  is  the  result  of  error ;  it  is  simply  mistake,  and  may 
teach  us  to  do  better  next  time.  But  Buddhism  has  no 
idea  of  absolute  goodness,  or  of  any  infinite  purpose  in  the 
universe. 

The  reason  why  there  is  no  progress  in  Buddhist  coun- 
tries generally,  is  that  for  this  we  need  faith  both  in 
the  Infinite  and  Finite.  Brahmanism  loses  the  Finite, 
Buddhism  the  Infinite;  but  both  are  combined  in  the 
Christian  idea,  and  hence  its  superiority.  In  Christianity 
there  is  no  better  spiritualism  than  may  be  found  in 
Brahmanic  literature,  and  no  better  humanity  than  may 


THE   BUDDHIST    MONKS    OF   CENTRAL   ASIA.  79 

be   found   in   BuJdliistic  literature ;   but  it  combines  the 
two. 

This  is  the  criticism  passed  on  lUiddhisni  by  St.  Hilaire,- 
who  has  made  of  it  a  very  complete  study.  In  the  main, 
this  opinion  is  certainly  well  founded.  While  Iji'ahmanisui, 
in  its  sacred  books,  seeks  for  absorption  in  the  Infinite  and 
adores  Ab.solute  lieing,  Buddhism  sees  the  divine  only  in 
linite  things.  The  Duddha  who  now  presides  over  the 
universe  is  himself  linite,  and  was  once  a  man ;  but  when 
we  are  told  tliat  Buddhism  is  therefore  Atheism,  we  must 
remember  that  the  majority  of  Christians  also  worship  a 
God  who  was  once  a  man.  Though  the  Buddha  was  once 
a  man,  he  is  now  divine,  and  is  worshipped  as  such  every 
day  by  millions,  with  devout  and  sincere  adoration.  And 
when  Buddhism  is  charged  with  teaching  that  this  world 
is  wholly  evil,  let  us  .not  forget  how  many  Christian  teach- 
ers say  the  same  thing.  And  how  can  Buddliists  deny  the 
reality  of  the  soul,  when  their  fundamental  doctrine  is 
that  of  Transmigration  ?  How  can  there  be  migration 
fi'oni  one  body  to  another,  if  there  is  nothing  to  migrate  ? 
And  in  regard  to  Nirvana,  —  though  I  am  aware  that  the 
weight  of  opinion  is  at  ])resent  with  those  who  assert  that 
it  means  annihilation,  I  must  think  the  better  belief  is 
that  which  considers  it  as  the  annihilation  of  self  by 
absorption  into  the  Infinite  Being.  We  have  seen  that 
the  Buddhists  liave  no  clear  conception  of  the  Infinite. 
To  them,  therefore.  Nirvana  is  a  state  of  which  they 
know  nothing.  They  took  the  word  and  the  idea  from 
Brahmanism ;  but  said  that  when  that  condition  was  at- 
tained, all  that  they  now  knew  would  be  nothing,  and 
would  end  forever.  Christians  also  speak  of  self-sacrifice, 
of  annihilation  of  self,  as  the  aim  of  existence,  —  never 
meaning  by  that  absolute  annihilation ;  and  the  conclusive 
proof  that  Buddhism  means  no  more  than  this,  is  that  not 


80  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

only  the  Buddha  entered  Nh'vana  during  his  earthly  life, 
but  that  others  are  able  to  do  the  same.  Some  of  the 
Buddhist  sayings  are  tliese  :  — 

"  Wherever  the  truth  is  kuown,  there  is  i!^irvana."  -^ 
"  When  a  man  can  bear  anything  without  complaint,  he  has 
entered  Nirvana." 

The  Pali  scriptures  tell  us  that  Subhadda,  the  last  disci- 
ple whom  Buddha  himself  converted,  entered  jSTirvana  while 
alive.- 

A  favorite  way  of  putting  the  Buddliist  doctrine  is  that 
death  is  the  result  of  birth ;  birth  the  result  of  existence 
(for  we  exist  before  we  are  born) ;  existence,  of  attachment 
to  material  things  ;  attachment  comes  from  desire  ;  desire, 
from  contact  (sensation),  not  merely  material  contact,  but 
soul-contact ;  contact,  from  the  senses ;  the  senses,  from 
name  and  form;  name  and  form,  from  the  power  of  dis- 
tinguishing ;  distinguishing  (or  consciousness),  from  igno- 
rance ;  —  and  that  knowledge  is  the  cure  for  all. 

To  attain  this  knowledge  of  the  emptiness  of  phenomena, 
and  the  reality  of  eternal  things,  is  tlie  object  of  transmi- 
gration. This  takes  place  under  the  law  Karma,  or  the 
law  of  cause  and  effect. 

Buddha  agreed  therefore,  it  would  seem,  with  the  Brah- 
mans,  that  the  highest  good  consists  in  escaping  from  the 
finite  life  into  infinite  being;  but  he  differed  as  to  the 
method.  Tt  could  not  be  accomplished,  so  he  taught,  by 
direct  intuition  of  the  eternal,  nor  by  maceration  of  the 
body  ;  but  by  passing  through  the  finite,  and  understanding 
it.  To  know  the  meaning  of  the  mystery  of  existence 
enables  us  to  escape  from  it  into  the  higher  but  unknown 
life.     In  one   word,  the  Buddhists  have  anticipated  the 

^  Spence  Hardy. 

2  Rhys  Davids,   "  Book  of  the  Great  Decease." 


THE  BUDDHIST   MONKS   OF   CENTRAL  ASIA.  81 

agnosticism  of  Herbert  Spencer.      Tliey  declare  that  the 
Infinite  is  real,  but  cannot  be  known. 

The  apostle  Paul,  at  Athens,  declared  tliat  '*  God  has 
made  of  one  blood  every  nation  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the 
face  of  the  eartli,  liaving  determined  their  appointed  sea- 
sons, and  the  bounds  of  tlieir  liabitation  ;  that  they  sliould 
seek  God,  if  hai)ly  tliey  might  feel  after  Ilim  and  find 
Him."  The  Buddhists  whom  we  have  been  studying  are 
among  those  who  are  seeking  the  Lord,  if  haply  tliey  may 
feel  after  Him  and  find  Him.  Formerly  it  was  the  custom 
to  call  all  heathen  religions  absolutely  false,  and  to  say  that 
no  heathen,  however  honest,  however  good,  could  be  saved ; 
but  now  we  have  learned  better,  and  can  be  grateful  to 
God,  who  has  never  left  himself  without  a  witness  in  every 
human  heart  and  mind.  We  follow  tlie  larger  wisdom  of 
our  own  Master,  and  where  we  find  good  fruit,  argue  that 
there  must  be  something  good  in  the  tree.  These  myriads 
of  our  fellow-men  follow  their  light.  It  may  be  a  feeble 
one,  but  it  is  part  of  the  same  divine  light  wliich  we  enjoy, 
for  all  truth  and  goodness  must  come  from  God ;  and 
wherever  there  is  humanity  toward  all  creatures,  and 
hospitality  to  those  who  need  it,  —  the  love  of  truth,  and 
reverence  for  the  highest  that  men  know,  —  there  is  evi- 
dence of  the  coming  dawn  which,  by  the  blessing  of 
heaven,  shall  shine  both  in  them  and  in  us  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day. 


82  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 


IV. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  MONKS  AND  MONASTIC  LIFE. 

§  1.  Original  Christianity  not  Monastic.  —  There  is  notli- 
ing  in  religious  history  more  interesting  than  the  preva- 
lence of  monastic  life  among  so  many  races,  within  such  a 
variety  of  religions,  and  during  such  long  periods. 

Man  is  a  social  being.  Everywhere  he  seeks  the  com- 
panionship of  his  fellows.  Weak  alone,  he  becomes  strong 
through  society.  A  wild  man,  alone  in  the  woods,  is  hardly 
able  to  defend  himself  against  the  surrounding  animals,  or 
to  support  his  life.  Such  a  man  soon  sinks  below  the 
human  level.  Without  society  there  is  no  home,  no  edu- 
cation, no  arts,  no  progress  or  improvement,  no  human, 
affections ;  and  yet  great  multitudes  have  firmly  believed 
that  to  live  alone  in  the  wilderness  is  the  only  way  to 
reach  the  hio'hest  kind  of  religion. 

Man  is  essentially  social,  —  made  to  live  in  families, 
tribes,  neighborhoods,  towns,  amid  social  institutions ;  and 
yet  the  wholly  dual  tendencies  and  antagonisms  of  human 
nature  appear  in  this  also,  —  that  loving  society  he  also 
loves  solitude,  incapable  of  living  alone  he  must  some- 
times be  alone.  He  needs  compan}^  and  also  seclusion. 
Hence  come  the  two  forms  of  religion :  social  religion, 
embodied  in  churches,  in  public  worship,  in  ritual,  liturgy, 
common  prayer,  and  religious  meetings ;  and  private  wor- 
ship, solitary  prayer,  religious  retreats,  and  monasticism. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   MONKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.  83 

To  alternate  society  with  solitude  is  natural  and  bene- 
ficial ;  but  the  monk  is  one  who  avoids  society  altogether, 
renounces  social  duties,  and  lives  apart  from  communion 
and  fellowship  with  his  race.  In  order  to  fulfil  the  first 
commandment,  "  Love  to  God,"  he  refuses  to  obey  the 
second,  "  Love  to  Man."  That  this  should  become  the  ideal 
religious  life  among  Pagans,  we  can  understand ;  but  how 
should  it  ever  have  become  a  Christian  belief  that  the 
highest  form  of  lioliness  was  that  which  made  it  impossible 
to  fulfil  any  duties  to  one's  neighbor  ?  And  yet  this  was 
beheved  through  centuries.  It  was  taught  by  Jerome  and 
Augustine ;  it  was  the  settled  conviction  of  the  whole 
church.  To  ''  enter  religion  "  meant  to  go  into  a  convent, 
—  as  if  there  were  no  real  religion  outside.  Sanctity,  in 
its  only  genuine  form,  was  supposed  to  be  there.  Every 
one  who  wished  to  be  a  saint  must  fly  from  the  world. 
Even  so  sensible  a  man  as  Montalembert  takes  this  ground. 
"  Every  man,"  he  says,  "  who  believes  in  tke  incarnation  of 
the  Son  of  God,  and  the  divinity  of  the  Gospel,  ought  to 
recognize  in  monastic  life  the  most  noble  effort  which  has 
ever  been  made  to  overcome  corrupted  nature,  and  to  ap- 
proach Christian  perfection."  Yet  Jesus  Christ  was  not 
a  monk ;  his  disciples  were  not  monks ;  Peter  and  Paul 
were  not  monks.  The  Scripture  twice  tells  us  that  Jesus, 
the  Captain  of  our  Salvation,  "  was  made  perfect  through 
sufferings,"  —  sufferings  endured  while  doing  his  work 
among  men.  Jesus  did  not  retire  into  a  cloister ;  he  went 
about  doing  good.  He  nowhere  recommended  monastic 
life.  Instead  of  establishing  celibacy  for  his  followers  he 
made  wine  for  a  marriage  feast.  He  prayed,  not  that  his 
disciples  should  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but  that  they 
should  be  kept  from  the  evil.  Nothing  is  more  striking 
than  the  contrast  between  the  religious  example  of  Jesus 
and  that  of  his  predecessor,  John  the  Baptist.     John  the 


84  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Baptist  was  the  typical  monk,  —  an  eremite;  living  in  the 
wilderness ;  eating  the  pods  of  the  locust,  and  wild  honey ; 
wrapt  in  the  skin  of  a  camel.  John  the  Baptist  came 
neither  eating  bread  nor  drinking  wine ;  the  Son  of  Man 
came  eating  and  drinking  ;  and  yet,  during  many  centuries, 
the  Christian  church  took  John  the  Baptist,  and  not  Christ, 
as  its  example,  and  as  the  type  of  the  highest  virtue. 
Montalembert  says  :  "  I  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  the 
monks  are  the  representatives  of  manhood  under  its  most 
pure  and  energetic  form,  of  manhood  intellectual  and 
moral ;  making  of  earth  a  stepping-stone  to  heaven,  and 
of  life  a  long  series  of  victories."  "  Thus,"  he  adds,  "  the 
monk  draws  from  his  solitude  the  treasure  of  a  strength 
which  the  world  has  never  surpassed  nor,  indeed,  equalled." 
If  the  monk  is  the  representative  of  the  highest  manhood, 
then  evidently  Jesus  is  not  that  representative. 

The  word  Monk  (jjlovo^,  alone)  means,  etymologically, 
"  a  solitary."  The  word  Hermit,  or  eremite,  means,  etymo- 
logically, one  who  lives  in  the  desert,  €prjfio<;.  Now  the 
monastic  system  was  not  found  in  Christianity  during  the 
first  three  centuries.  There  is  no  trace  of  it  in  the  E(jman 
Catacombs.  We  saw,  in  our  first  two  lectures,  that  it  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Catacombs  were  occupied  by 
the  Christians  as  residences,  —  except  temporarily,  during 
the  rage  of  persecution.  If  there  had  been  any  anchorites 
in  Kome  they  would  have  gone  there;  but  austere  self- 
denial  and  renunciation  of  the  world  were  not  then  con- 
sidered the  highest  type  of  Christian  virtue.  They  painted 
on  the  walls  of  the  Catacombs,  not  John  the  Baptist  in  the 
wilderness,  but  Jesus  sitting  at  the  marriage  feast.  Cheer- 
fulness prevailed  then  in  the  midst  of  martyrdom.  The 
age  of  the  monks  had  not  yet  come. 

§  2.  Beginning  of  Christian  Monasticism.  The  Ancho- 
rites.—  That  age  began,  for  Christianity,  in  the  year  311, 


THE   CHRISTIAN   MONKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.  85 

and  in  Egypt,  in  the  appearance  of  Anthony  the  hermit. 
Egyi)t  had  been  the  home  of  anchorites  before  the  Cln-ist- 
ian  era.  The  old  Egyptian  religion  had  its  nionk.s,  and 
Jewish  monks  were  numerous  in  Egypt  when  Jesus  was 
born.  The  priests  of  the  Temple  of  Isis,  at  rhila3,  were 
cloistered  monks  living  in  cells,  forbidden  to  leave  the 
temple.  Their  business  was  to  pour  out  libations  of  milk 
to  Osiris  once  a  day.  They  sat  on  the  ground  the  rest  of 
the  day,  witli  their  knees  up  to  their  chins,  and  varied  this 
,  monotony  by  sometimes  cutting  themselves  with  knives. 
Some  of  the  Greeks  in  Egypt  imitated  this  practice,  and 
became  religious  recluses.  There  is  a  letter  extant,  of  the 
second  century  before  Christ,  addressed  to  Ptolemy,  King 
of  Egypt,  by  a  Greek  monk  in  the  Temple  of  Serapis,  who 
begs  an  appointment  in  the  army  for  his  brother,  on  the 
ground  that  he  himself  had  lived  as  a  religious  recluse  for 
fifteen  years.  At  the  time  of  Christ's  coming  there  were 
several  communities  of  Jewisli  monks  in  Egypt,  whose 
mode  of  life  is  described  by  Philo,  and  who  were  called 
Therapeutix;.  A  convent  of  tliese  Jewish  monks  w^as  estab- 
lished south  of  the  Lake  Alareotis.  Each  lived  in  his  own 
cell,  meditating  on  the  Law,  praying  at  sunrise  and  sunset, 
and  eating  but  one  meal  a  day.  They  saw  no  one  and 
spoke  to  no  one  during  the  week,  and  only  met  together  on 
tlie  Sabbatli.  Lreiid,  water,  .salt  and  cresses,  made  up  their 
meal. 

Christian  monasticism  began  in  Egypt,  in  tlie  third  cen- 
tury. The  first  monks  were  anchorites  and  ascetics.  To 
torture  the  body  was  considered  the  surest  way  of  saving 
the  soul.  Lecky  says  the  idea  of  a  saint  was  of  a  half- 
starved,  dirty  madman,  who  spent  his  life  in  useless  self- 
torture."  St.  Alacarius,  having  killed  a  gnat  which  was 
stinging  him,  punished  himself  by  sleeping  naked  in  a 
marsh   wdiere  he  was  covered  with  venomous  flies.     He 


86  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

carried  eighty  pounds  of  iron  wherever  he  went.  A  disci- 
ple, St.  Eusebius,  excelled  him  by  carrying  a  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds,  and  lived  for  three  years  in  a  dried  up 
well.  St.  Sabinus  would  only  eat  rotten  corn.  St.  Bessa- 
rion  slept  forty  days  and  nights  in  the  middle  of  thorn- 
bushes.  Some  saints  would  not  lie  down  to  sleep.  Some 
went  naked,  lived  in  dens,  and  crawled  about  like  beasts. 
St.  Athanasius  relates,  with  a  thrill  of  delight,  that  St. 
Anthony,  the  father  of  Christian  monachism,  was  never 
guilty  of  washing  his  feet.  St.  Abraham,  the  hermit,  re- 
fused, during  fifty  years,  to  wash  either  his  face  or  feet. 
St.  Euphraxia  belonged  to  a  convent  of  a  hundred  and 
thirty  nuns,  who  thought  it  religious  to  abstain  from  all 
ablutions.  We  all  know  the  story  of  St.  Simeon  Stylites, 
who  lived  on  the  top  of  a  pillar  sixty  feet  high ;  standing 
on  one  leg  during  long  periods,  and  in  a  condition  too 
dreadful  to  be  spoken  of.  He  was  considered  the  greatest 
saint  of  all,  and  throughout  Christendom  he  was  univer- 
sally reverenced  as  the  highest  example  of  Christian 
perfection. 

§  3.  The  Anchorites  take  the  place  of  the  Martyrs.  —  It 
will  be  noticed  that  the  age  of  martyrdom  had  just  ceased 
when  this  self-inflicted  martyrdom  began.  Because,  after 
the  accession  of  Constantino,  there  were  no  more  persecu- 
tions, it  was  thought  necessary  to  gain  the  glory  and  honor 
of  martyrdom  by  voluntary  torments.  One  error  gener- 
ates another.  The  Christians  who  were  tortured  and  put 
to  death  by  the  Eoman  Emperors  attained  the  highest 
honors  in  the  church.  A  martyr's  death  was  believed  to 
blot  out  all  sins,  and  to  open  the  gates  of  Paradise.  It 
was  the  baptism  of  blood  and  fire,  and  made  the  soul  white 
as  that  of  an  innocent  child.  These  martjTS  were  the 
saints  of  the  church  by  the  simple  fact  of  martyrdom.  No 
matter  how  wicked  they  had  been,  a  martyr's  death  atoned 


THE   CHRISTIAN   MONKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.  87 

for  it  all,  and  might  sometimes  atone  for  the  sins  of  others. 
Even  the  Confessors,  who  had  been  tortured  but  not  killed, 
were  allowed  to  stand  above  Bishops,  and  by  their  au- 
thority could  restore  to  the  cliurch  those  who  had  been 
excluded.  It  became,  therefore,  a  desirable  tiling  to  be 
persecuted,  and  Christians  offered  themselves  to  be  tor- 
tured or  put  to  death,  not  accepting  deliverance ;  for  such 
is  the  supreme  power  of  the  soul  in  man,  such  mastery  has 
mind  over  body,  that  numbers  will  glory  in  persecutions 
and  court  death  in  pursuit  of  an  idea.  It  was  logical  there- 
fore, that  wlien  the  martyr-age  ceased,  by  the  triumph  of 
Christianity,  men  should  have  sought  to  gain  the  highest 
glory  here,  and  Heaven  hereafter,  by  inflicting  martyrdom 
on  themselves. 

Then  there  came,  especially  in  the  East,  a  rage  for 
religious  asceticism.  The  type  of  Christian  virtue  was 
entirelv  champed.  Read  the  New  Testament,  and  what  is 
evidently  the  highest  virtue,  that  which  fulfils  the  whole 
law  ?  Every  one  will  now  say  that  it  is  Love.  In  this 
Christ  and  all  tlie  apostles  agree.  Even  Paul,  who  en- 
dured such  persecution  for  his  faith,  has  left  on  record  a 
sentence  whicli  declares  all  renunciation  and  martyrdom 
as  nothing  without  love  :  "  Though  I  bestow  all  my  goods 
to  feed  the  poor,  and  tliough  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned, 
and  liave  not  love,  it  profiteth  me  notliing."  But,  during 
tlie  period  of  which  we  now  speak,  the  higliest  virtue  did 
not  consist  in  love,  but  self-inflicted  sufferings. 

^lultitudes,  in  incredible  numbers,  poured  into  the  des- 
erts of  Egypt  to  become  hermits.  The  anchorites,  who 
w^ent  there  to  be  alone,  found  themselves  surrounded  by 
thousands  of  disciples  who  longed  to  be  near  such  holiness. 
The  hermits  soon  became  a  mighty  nation.  The  imagi- 
nation \\'as  fascinated  by  the  poetic  charm  of  this  ideal 
life.     The  greatest  teachers  and  pulpit  orators, —  Ambrose, 


88  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Augustine,  Athanasius,  Jerome,  Chrysostom,  Basil,  Gregory, 
—  extolled  the  monastic  state  as  the  highest  one  attainable 
on  earth.  This  was  the  "  divine  philosophy,"  —  this  the 
"  angelic  knowledge."  In  the  Nitron  desert,  south  of  Alex- 
andria, there  were  5000  monks  under  one  abbot.  St. 
Pachomius,  in  another  desert,  ruled  over  7000.  One  city 
in  Egypt  was  a  great  monastery,  and  contained  20,000 
nuns  and  10,000  monks.  St.  Jerome  says  that  50,000 
assembled  sometimes  in  Egypt  for  the  Easter  festivals. 
Boasting  of  their  ignorance,  half  crazy  with  enthusiasm, 
seeing  wild  visions,  maddened  by  diabolic  temptations,  — 
they  were  at  the  mercy  of  religious  demagogues.  The 
monks  rushed  from  the  deserts  into  the  cities  to  depose 
bishops  whom  they  happened  to  tliink  heretics.  Milman 
tells  us  that  they  assumed  in  the  East  complete  dominion 
over  the  public  mind ;  tyrannized  over  bishops  and  patri- 
archs ;  took  possession  of  the  streets  of  the  cities  in  armed 
bodies,  filling  them  with  bloodshed.  Monks  in  Antioch, 
monks  in  Jerusalem,  monks  in  Alexandria,  monks  in  Con- 
stantinople, decided  by  clamor  and  force  what  was  orthodox 
and  what  heterodox.  They  attacked  and  murdered  the 
Pagan  priests,  and  destroyed  their  temples.  They  tore  the 
wise  and  pure  Hypatia  from  her  lecture-room,  murdered 
her,  tore  her  flesh  from  her  bones  with  sharp  shells,  and 
flung  her  mangled  remains  into  the  flames.  One  bisliop, 
at  the  head  of  his  monks,  beat  to  death  another  bishop,  in 
a  church  council. 

§  4.  The  Monks  collected  into  Communities.  —  This  evil 
was  so  great  that  it  became  necessary  to  subject  such 
insubordinate  saints  to  some  rule.  First,  they  were  assem- 
bled in  lauras,  which  word  conies  from  the  Greek  \avpo<^^ 
a  street,  and  means  simply  villages  where  the  houses  stood 
in  rows.  Next,  they  were  collected  into  convents,  and  sub- 
jected to  strict  rules  and  discipliue.     Thus  the  second  pe- 


THE   CHRISTIAN   MONKS  AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.  89 

riod  of  monasticism  arrived.  The  anchorites  disappeared, 
with  all  their  wild  independence,  their  spiritual  pride,  their 
daring  courage,  their  ignorant  fanaticism,  their  amazing 
self-denial.  The  liermit  gave  place  to  the  cenoVjite ;  a 
word  derived-  from  the  Greek  kolvo^  I^^o^,  ^i  common  life. 
Solitary  life  gave  way  to  life  in  communities.  Self-torture 
ceased,  by  degrees,  to  be  regarded  as  the  highest  form  of 
virtue ;  and  nowliere  in  all  Christendom  to-day,  wliether 
in  the  l\oman  Catholic  or  Greek  or  Oriental  churclies,  is 
that  ancient  type  to  be  found. 

It  is  curious  to  see  a  great  popular  belief  like  tliis  pass 
so  entirely  out  of  Christian  thought ;  thougli  in  fact  it  was 
never  Christian,  but  was  essentially  Pagan.  It  was  im- 
ported out  of  lieathenism  into  Christianity.  It  had  not 
even  the  merit  of  originality. 

§  5.  Monasticisjii  among  the  Brahmans  in  India,  800 
B.C.  —  Tlie  "Laws  of  Manu,"  —  first  translated  into  En- 
glish by  Sir  William  Jones,  and  thought  to  have  been 
written  eight  hundred  or  one  thousand  years  before  Christ 
—  shows  that  Brahmanism  in  India,  at  that  remote  period, 
was  partly  a  religion  of  anchorites  and  ascetics ;  as  it  has 
continued  to  be  ever  since.  We  have  seen  that  Sakya-Muni, 
or  Buddha,  al)out  five  hundred  years  before  Christ,  began  his 
career  as  a  Hindoo  monk,  not  differing  from  other  Brah- 
manical  monks.  Soon,  however,  he  became  the  founder  for 
Asia  of  the  second  form  of  monastic  life,  of  the  cenobites,  or 
monks  collected  into  monasteries.  He  was  the  St.  Bene- 
dict of  the  East.  But  listen  to  what  the  "  Laws  of  iManu" 
(slightly  al)ridged)  teach  concerning  the  anchorites  of  India 
eight  or  ten  centuries  before  the  time  of  Christ :  — 

"  Having  lived  as  a  housekeeper,  let  the  twice-born  man  go 
and  dwell  in  the  forest." 

"  Abandoning  all  food  eaten  in  towns,  or  household  utensils, 
let  him  repair  to  the  lonely  wood." 


90  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

"  With  pure  food,  such  as  holy  sages  eat,  green  herbs,  roots, 
and  fruit,  —  wearing  the  hide  of  a  black  antelope,  or  clothes 
made  of  bark,  —  let  him  bathe  evening  and  morning ;  suffering 
his  hair,  beard,  and  nails  to  grow." 

"Let  him  be  constantly  engaged  in  reading  the  Vedas ;  pa- 
tient of  all  extremities ;  univer^sally  benevolent ;  with  a  mind 
intent  on  the  Supreme  Being ;  a  perpetual  giver,  but  no  re- 
ceiver of  gifts ;  with  tender  affection  for  all  animated  things." 

"Alone  let  him  always  dwell,  living  with  no  companion. 
Let  him  eat  but  once  a  day,  not  much  at  a  time.  Let  him 
beg  food  late  in  the  day.  Let  him  not  be  sorrowful  if  it  is 
refused ;  if  it  is  given,  let  him  not  be  glad." 

"  Let  him  slide  backwards  and  forwards  on  the  gi'ound ;  let 
him  stand  a  whole  day  on  tiptoe ;  or  let  him  continue  in 
motion,  rising  and  sitting  alternately." 

"  In  the  hot  weather  let  him  sit  between  four  fires,  with  the 
sun  above  ;  in  the  rains  let  him  stand  uncovered,  and  without 
even  a  robe ;  in  the  cold  weather  let  him  wear  w^et  clothes,  and 
let  him  sleep  on  the  bare  ground." 

"  Having  shuffled  off  his  body  by  these  modes  which  great 
sages  have  practised,  becoming  void  of  sorrow  and  fear,  he  rises 
into  the  divine  essence." 

In  the  Bhagavat-geeta,  an  ancient  religious  poem, — 
probably  later  than  Manu,  —  the  yogi,  or  Hindoo  anchorite, 
is  thus  described  :  — 

"  He  is  one  w^ho  abandons  all  wishes,  has  subdued  his  pas- 
sions, and  sits  alone  on  the  ground,  covered  with  a  skin.  In 
the  exercise  of  his  devotion  he  must  keep  his  body  immovable, 
with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  point  of  his  nose,  wishing  for  nothing, 
and  meditating  on  God  alone." 

It  would  seem,  from  Manu,  that  in  his  time  monasticism 
in  India  was  still  chiefly  a  system  of  anchorites  and  her- 
mits ;  but  we  have  evidence,  from  the  beautiful  drama  of 
Sakoontala,  —  written  by  Kalidas  before  the  Christian  era. 


THE   CHRISTIAN    MONKS   AND    MONASTIC    LIFE.  91 

—  that  the  same  change  had  occuired  in  Asia  that  after- 
wards took  phice  in  Europe.  The  Hindoo  hermits  were 
now  often  collected  into  lauras,  or  viUages.  There  is  a 
very  pretty  picture  in  this  play  of  the  happy  life  of  these 
married  hermits,  living  with  their  families  in  tlie  depths 
of  the  forest.  The  King  Dush-y-anta  arrives  in  his  chariot, 
chasing  an  antelope ;  and  just  as  he  is  about  to  shoot  it 
with  his  arrow,  three  hermits  appear,  telling  him  that  the 
antelope  is  theirs,  and  begging  its  life,  which  the  king 
readily  grants.  They  tell  him  that  this  is  the  residence  of 
the  great  sage  Canuha,  whose  daughter  Sakoontala  is  water- 
ing the  flowers  in  the  neighboring  grove.  Then  follows  a 
charming  descri[)tion  of  the  young  girls,  busy  with  their 
flowers.  While  the  King  is  talking  with  them,  they  are 
disturbed  by  a  wild  elephant  rushing  through  the  forest, 
and  the  Kini;  hastens  to  protect  the  sages  from  this  in- 
truder, and  also  from  evil  demons  who  are  disturbing  their 
sacrificial  rites.  The  demons  fly  as  soon  as  the  King  ap- 
pears A  great  change  has  taken  place  since  the  hermits 
sat  motionless  in  the  sun  contemplating  the  ends  of  their 
noses.  Innocence,  happiness,  and  peaceful  enjoyment  of 
nature  have  taken  the  place  of  harsh  asceticism. 

Christianity,  like  most  other  religions,  has  passed  through 
the  stage  of  self-torture ;  but  it  is  to  its  credit  that,  while 
many  other  religions  retain  this  element,  Christianity  has 
left  it  wholly  behind.  As  a  faith,  it  has  forever  passed 
away  from  Christendom.  The  Mohammedans  still  have 
their  dervishes  in  Persia  and  Egypt,  their  fakirs  in  Arabia 
and  India.  They  thrust  iron  spikes  into  their  eyes,  swords 
through  their  bodies,  carry  rags  soaked  with  tar  on  fire 
under  their  arms.  Others  handle  poisonous  serpents  and 
scorpions.  The  Hindoos  still  swing  on  ropes,  with  steel 
hooks  through  their  bodies.  But  there  is  no  Simon  Sty- 
lites   now  in   any  Christian  laud.     Yet  let  us  do  justice 


92  EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  EELIGI.OUS  HISTORY. 

even  to  this  exaggerated  form  of  self-denial.  It  was  not 
only  the  continuation  of  the  martyr  spirit,  but  it  was  a 
reaction  against  the  debasing  luxury  of  the  lioman  Empire. 
It  was  a  protest  against  pleasure  as  the  end  of  life.  It 
showed  that  there  were  in  the  soul  high  powers  which 
could  lift  it  above  all  the  temptations  of  earthly  happi- 
ness. It  proved  the  reality  of  the  religious  sentiment  to  a 
sceptical  age.  The  Roman  world  saw,  with  astonishment, 
men  willingly  resigning  whatever  made  life  dear  for  the 
sake  of  God  and  holiness.  If  this  long  period  of  self- 
torture  has  left  us  no  other  gain,  let  us  value  it  as  a  proof 
that  in  man  religious  aspiration  is  iimate,  unconquerable, 
and  able  to  triumph  over  all  that  the  world  hopes,  and 
over  all  that  it  fears.  And  perhaps  it  was  necessary  that 
the  Roman  Empire,  given  over  to  luxury  and  self-indul- 
gence, should  be  startled  by  the  sight  of  this  great  multi- 
tude who  sought  pain,  privation,  suffering,  poverty,  —  as 
eagerly  as  the  rest  of  the  world  were  seeking  sensual 
pleasure,  wealth,  and  comfort. 

"  These  monks  of  the  fourth  century,"  says  Lecky,  "  were  a 
body  of  men  who,  in  self-denial,  singleness  of  purpose,  in  heroic 
courage  and  in  merciless  fanaticism,  have  seldom  been  sur- 
passed. .  .  .  Abandoning  home  and  all  luxuries,  scourging 
their  bodies,  living  in  filth  and  loneliness,  half-starved,  half- 
naked,  —  they  extinguished  every  natural  sentiment.  .  .  .  No 
reward  could  bribe  them,  no  danger  appall,  no  affection  move. 
They  embraced  misery  with  a  passionate  love.  They  took 
a  ghastly  pleasure  in  multiplying  all  forms  of  loathsome 
penance." 

§  6.  The  Monhs  in  Convents.  St.  Benedict  and  his  Ride.  — 
Eut  we  must  pass  to  the  Second  Stage  of  the  monastic  life, 
when  it  changed  from  the  condition  of  the  hermit,  or  soli- 
tary, to  that  of  the  convent,  or  community  life  under  a 


THE  CHRISTIA.N   MONKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.  93 

superior  and  according  to  iniles.  A  new  vow  was  now 
added  to  those  of  poverty  and  chastity,  —  namely,  obedi- 
ence. Tliese  three  vows  were  taken  by  the  monks  of  all 
orders.  Tliis  system  came  through  JJasil  in  tlie  East,  and 
Benedict  in  tlic  West.  And  here  the  parallel  still  con- 
tinues between  Asia  and  Europe ;  for  as  the  I>uddha, 
Sakya-^luni,  founder  of  the  convent  system  in  Asia,  be- 
gan his  career  as  a  solitary  hermit,  so  St.  Benedict,  founder 
of  the  convent  system  in  the  West,  also  liegan  his  career 
as  a  hermit,  living  alone  in  a  cave  at  Subiaco,  some  forty 
miles  southeast  of  Home,  among  the  mountains.  He  was 
of  a  noble  race,  and  was  only  fourteen  when  he  renounced 
liis  family,  his  fortune,  and  the  world,  and  concealed  him- 
self in  a  cleft  of  a  ravine  among  the  peaks  of  the  Apennines. 
He  remained  in  this  place  thirty-six  years,  from  A.D.  480 
to  A.I).  516,  when  he  removed  to  Monte  Cassino,  where  he 
founded  the  monastery  which  is  considered  the  mother- 
convent  of  the  vast  Benedictine  order.  Tagan  worship 
still  existed  in  the  ])lace  when  he  arrived,  and  he  destroyed 
the  Temple  of  Apollo  before  he  began  to  build  his  own 
church  and  convent.  Here,  on  the  lofty  eminence  over- 
looking vast  plains  as  far  as  the  Mediterranean,  he  erected 
oratories  dedicated  to  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Martin,  and 
surrounded  them  with  dwellings  for  his  disciples,  with 
mills  and  storehouses,  and  other  buildings  necessary  for 
the  uses  of  life.  The  monastery  was  to  have  within  itself 
all  that  was  wanted  by  its  inmates.  Hence,  when  fully 
developed,  a  convent  was  a  small  town,  symmetrically 
arranged,  —  every  building  in  its  proper  place.  We  have 
])lans  of  some  of  the  largest  abbeys  of  the  middle  ages, 
which  show  us  the  method  of  their  architecture. 

One  of  these  is  that  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Gall,  erected 
al)Out  AD.  820.  The  vast  church,  with  its  choir,  nave, 
transepts,  and  chapels,  formed  the  nucleus,  or  centre,  of  the 


94  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

religious  life  of  the  community.  To  the  south  was  the 
cloister,  or  enclosed  court,  with  covered  arcade  for  walks 
around  the  sides,  where  the  monks  took  their  air  and  exer- 
cise ;  with  a  calefactory,  or  hot  room,  at  one  end,  —  heated 
by  flues  below  the  floor  —  wliere  they  could  go  and  warm 
themselves  when  necessary.  Next  were  the  refectory  for 
eating ;  the  dormitories  for  sleep ;  the  chapter-house  for 
the  meetings  of  tlie  governing  officers ;  the  library ;  the 
infirmary  for  the  sick ;  three  groups  of  buildings  devoted 
to  guests ;  a  school-house ;  sacristy,  and  vestry.  There 
were  separate  residences  for  the  abbot,  the  doctor,  and  the 
school-master.  Another,  and  smaller  collection  of  build- 
ings, on  the  same  plan,  was  for  the  novices.  They,  also, 
had  their  church,  cloister,  refectory,  dormitory,  calefactory, 
etc.  Then  came  the  group  of  buildings  connected  with  the 
material  wants  of  the  establishment,  separated  from  the 
monastic  buildings.  These  were  the  kitchen,  buttery, 
bakery,  brewery,  factories,  mills,  brick-kiln,  workshops  for 
shoe-makers,  carpenters,  smiths,  cutlers,  tanners,  with  their 
houses  behind  them.  Besides  these  were  stables  for  horses, 
cows,  sheep,  goats,  and  pigs  ;  the  houses  for  hens  and  ducks  ; 
the  house  of  the  gardener ;  tlie  baths ;  kitchen-gardens ; 
physic-gardens ;  orciiards  ;  and,  finally,  the  cemetery. 

At  Monte  Cassino,  Benedict  prepared  his  rules,  in  73 
chapters,  and  these  rules  have  remained  unaltered  for 
1300  years. 

They  are  based  on  two  principles :  work  and  obedience. 
Idleness  he  declared  to  be  the  great  enemy  of  the  soul. 
Not  one  hour  of  the  day  was  to  remain  unoccupied.  Seven 
hours  were  given  to  prayer,  seven  to  manual  labor,  two  to 
study,  one  to  meditation;  leaving  seven  to  be  divided 
between  sleep,  meals,  and  refreshment.  They  met  in  thf 
church  for  vicfils  at  two  in  the  mornino-  •  for  matins,  a; 
sunrise ;  for  vespers,  at  sunset.     They  were  to  obey  thei 


THE   CHRISTIAN   MONKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.  95 

superior  in  everything.  They  took  but  two  meals  a  day, 
at  noon  and  eveniuL^.  Tliey  slept  in  common  dormitories, 
ten  or  twelve  in  each,  with  a  light  burning,  without  un- 
dressing, and  were  not  to  speak  to  each  other  in  the  dor- 
mitories.    No  one  was  to  have  any  private  property. 

The  change  from  the  ascetic  system  a})peared  at  once  in 
tlie  rule  of  Benedict.  Hearing  that  Marlino,  an  old  hermit 
living  in  a  cave,  liad  chained  lumself  to  tlie  rock,  he  went 
to  him  and  said :  "  If  you  are  indeed  a  servant  of  God  you 
w  ill  scL'k  to  be  chained,  not  with  iron,  but  with  the  love  of 
Christ." 

The  rule  of  Benedict  soon  spread  widely.  In  the  days 
of  Charlemagne,  about  800  A.  1).,  no  other  order  could  be 
found  in  all  his  dominions.  But,  as  wealth  increased,  the 
enforcement  of  their  rules  was  relaxed.  Luxury  came  in, 
and  after  a  few  centuries  a  reform  became  necessary.  Then 
came  various  branches  of  lieformed  Benedictines,  —  as  the 
order  of  Camaldoli,  one  of  the  strictest  of  all.  In  this 
order  the  monks  live  in  separate  huts,  and  are  not  to  speak 
to  each  other,  nor  to  eat  together.  Afterward  was  that  of 
Vallambrosa ;  then  that  of  the  Carthusians,  founded  by 
St.  Bruno.  This  is  an  austere  sect,  first  established  at 
Chartreux,  in  France,  in  a  monastery  called  the  Grande 
Chartreuse.  They  have  been  celebrated  for  gardening ; 
also  for  transcribing  books. 

The  Abbey  of  Clairvaux  belonged  to  the  order  of  Re- 
formed Benedictines  called  Cistercians.  This  was  founded 
in  1098,  near  Chalons,  France,  and  soon  became  very  popu- 
lar, having,  within  a  century  after  its  origin,  three  thou- 
sand alliliated  monasteries.  St.  Charles  Borromeo  and  St. 
Philip  Neri,  as  well  as  the  Port  Royalists,  belonged  to 
sub-sections  of  this  order. 

All  of  these  monastic  bodies,  with  others  which  I  must 
pass  by,  resembled  the  Benedictines  in  their  main  purpose, 


96  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

— which  was  seclusion  from  the  world,  for  labor  and  devo- 
tion, the  object  being  to  save  the  soul  by  religious  duties. 

Plate  X.  gives  a  view  of  the  Abbey  of  Citeaux  (Cistercian), 
near  Dijon,  in  Burgundy,  founded  in  1098  by  the  Bene- 
dictine abbot,  Eobert  of  Moleme.  The  aim  of  this  order 
was  to  restore  the  Benedictines  to  their  early  simplicity. 
They  avoided  splendor  in  their  churches,  and  adopted  a 
strict  rule  of  poverty  and  obedience.  AVithin  a  century 
they  expanded  into  eighteen  hundred  abbeys  in  France, 
Germany,'  England,  Ireland,  Denmark,  and  Sweden.^  In 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  there  were  seventy-five  Cis- 
tercian abbeys  and  twenty-six  nunneries  in  England, — 
among  which  were  Woburn,  Tintern,  Furness,  and  Foun- 

1  The  ground-plan  of  the  Abbey  of  Clairvaux,  on  the  next  page,  will 
give  some  idea  of  the  internal  arrangements  of  a  Cistercian  convent.  This 
plan,  like  the  others  in  this  lecture,  is  taken  from  the  *'  Dictionnaire 
Raisonne  de  L'Architecture  Fran9aise  du  XP  an  XVP  siecle,  par  M.  Viol- 
let-le-Duc."  The  Abbey  of  Clairvaux  was  founded  by  St.  Bernard.  A  is 
the  church,  terminated  at  its  apse  by  nine  quadrangular  chapels.  Four 
other  chajiels  are  in  each  transept.  B  is  the  large  cloister,  surrounding 
an  open  green  space  with  a  basin  in  the  centre.  C  is  the  chapter-house. 
D  is  the  parlor  for  the  monks,  where  alone  they  were  permitted  to  speak 
to  each  other,  and  then  only  on  matters  of  necessity.  E  is  the  place  where 
they  could  warm  themselves  after  their  night  services.  F  is  the  kitchen, 
with  running  water.  G  is  the  refectory,  near  a  wash-room,  ff  is  the 
cemetery.  /  is  a  small  cloister,  with  cells  for  the  copyists.  K  is  the 
infirmary  and  hospital  buildings.  L  indicates  rooms  for  the  novices; 
3f,  rooms  for  strangers  ;  iV,  abbot's  house  ;  0,  cloister  for  infirm  old  men  ; 
P,  the  abbot's  rece])tion  room  ;  Q,  cell  and  oratory  of  St.  Bernard  ;  H,  the 
stables  ;  S,  granaries  and  cellars  ;  U,  oil-mill  and  saw-mill ;  F,  shoe- 
maker's shop  ;  X,  sacristy ;  Y,  small  library.  The  dormitory,  in  the 
second  story,  is  reached  by  a  stair-way  near  D.  Above  the  parlor  is  the 
large  library,  reached  by  stairs  on  the  south  of  the  church,  which  stairs 
also  connect  the  dormitory  with  the  church.  Near  the  cloister,  /,  is  a 
hall  for  the  meeting  of  the  monks  in  their  conferences  or  polemical  debates. 
These  debates  were  intellectual  battles  ;  and,  in  the  original  plan,  this 
hall  was  styled  "Thesium  pro  pugnando  aula."  Grouped  around  the 
small  cloister  are  the  parts  of  the  convent  destined  to  intellectual  exer- 
cise, —  the  hall  of  debate,  the  library,  and  the  cells  of  the  copyists. 


Plate  X.  —  GrouuJ  Plau  of  Abbey  of  Clairvaux. 


98  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

tain;  and  in^Scotland,  Melrose  and  others.  But  riches 
and  indolence  led  this  great  order  to  its  decline  and 
ruin. 

The  Cistercian  rule,  adopted  in  1119,  says  of  the  build- 
ings :  "  The  monastery  shall  be  so  constructed  as  to  unite 
in  itself  everything  necessary,  —  as  water,  a  mill,  a  garden, 
and  workshops  of  different  kinds.  The  church  shall  be 
very  simple,  containing  no  paintings  or  sculpture,  —  the 
windows  of  clear  white  glass." 

In  the  plan  of  the  mother-abbey  of  the  order,  we  see 
this  law  of  simplicity.  By  an  avenue  of  trees  one  arrives 
at  the  entrance,  0,  by  the  side  of  which  is  a  chapel,  D. 
As  soon  as  the  brother  at  the  gate  hears  a  knock  he  rises 
and  says  Deo  gr alias,  tlianking  God  for  an  opportunity  to 
extend  hospitality.  Opening  the  gate  he  says  Benedicite, 
and  goes  to  inform  the  abbot  of  the  arrival.  The  abbot 
leaves  every  engagement  and  goes  to  welcome  the  God- 
sent  guest,  and  conducts  him  to  the  chapel  for  a  short 
prayer.  Then  the  stranger  is  committed  to  the  care  of  the 
brother  who  has  the  charge  of  strangers,  and  not  only 
takes  care  of  the  man  but  of  his  beast,  for  which  purpose 
there  is  a  stable  at  F,  near  the  inner  door,  E.  By  this  door 
one  enters  a  court  surrounded  with  granaries,  stables,  and  a 
large  building,  G-,  for  the  lay-brethren.  H  is  the  house 
for  the  abbot  and  his  guests.  N  is  the  church ;  B,  the 
large  cloister ;  K,  the  refectory ;  /,  the  kitchen ;  M,  the 
dormitories ;  0,  the  small  cloister ;  P,  the  cells  of  the 
copyists,  with  the  library  above ;  R,  the  large  infirmary. 
A  wall  surrounds  all  the  buildings. 

§  7.  The  Mendicant  Orders.  St.  Dominic  and  St.  Fran^ 
CIS.  —  We  now  come  to  the  third  principal  form  of  monas- 
ticism,  that  of  the  mendicant  orders ;  and  especially  the 
Dominicans  and  Franciscans. 

The   first   monks  were   solitaries,  living   alone   in   the 


Plate  XI.  —  View  of  the  Abbey  of  Cidaiix. 


100  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

desert.  The  second  class  of  mouks  were  separated  from 
the  world,  but  living  together  in  cloisters.  The  next  who 
came  lived  in  convents,  but  came  out  of  them  to  work 
among  men  as  pastors  and  brothers.  They  were  to  look 
after  the  stray  sheep ;  to  advise,  comfort,  warn,  help  the 
common  people  anywhere  and  everyw^here.  They  were  to 
own  nothing,  and  support  themselves  and  their  convents 
by  begging.  Thus  came  the  great  movement  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  which  has  been  well  compared,  by  Hallam, 
to  the  Methodist  movement  in  the  eighteenth.  The  Men- 
dicant Friars,  like  the  Methodists,  were  the  democrats  in 
religion,  putting  themselves  by  the  side  of  the  common 
people  as  friends  and  brothers.  The  word  "friar,"  frere, 
means  "  brother ; "  and  they  renounced  the  priestly  title  of 
Father  for  this  humbler  one  of  Brother,  They  fulfilled  that 
part  of  the  work  of  Christ,  so  often  neglected  by  the 
church,  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  poor.  The  old 
monastic  orders  had  accumulated  wealth ;  wealth  gradually 
produced  habits  of  luxury;  and  thus  they  became  sepa- 
rated from  the  people.  The  Mendicants  made  themselves 
poor  that  tliey  might  be  in  sympathy  with  the  poor.  Like 
the  Buddhist  monks,  of  whom  they  had  never  heard,  they 
were  to  own  no  property  as  individuals  nor  as  communities, 
but  were  to  support  themselves  by  begging  from  house  to 
house.  Now  the  type  of  monasticism  was  changed  again. 
Instead  of  living  in-doors,  in  seclusion,  they  lived  out-of- 
doors,  in  society.  Instead  of  being  shut  up  in  one  place, 
they  wandered  everywhere.  Instead  of  flying  from  the 
world  to  save  their  own  souls,  they  went  into  the  world  to 
save  the  souls  of  others.  Like  the  Methodists,  they  went 
to  find  the  stray  sheep,  to  look  for  those  whom  the  church 
had  neglected.  Like  the  Methodists,  they  were  itinerant 
preachers,  out-of-door  ministers.  They  administered  the 
eucharist  on  a  portable  altar.     Like  the  IMethodists,  they 


THE   CHRISTIAN    MONKS   AND    MONASTIC   LIFE.         101 

drew  crowds  to  liear  them,  and  caused  the  parish  churches 
to  be  deserted.  TraveUiiig  from  house  to  house,  they  were 
every wliere  at  home  amon«^  the  people,  —  their  advisers, 
sympathizers ;  rejoicing  with  those  who  rejoiced,  weeping 
with  those  who  wept. 

The  two  greatest  of  these  orders,  the  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans,  arose  almost  simultaneously,  yet  independ- 
ently, the  Dominicans  in  12 10,  and  the  Fmnciscans  in 
122:1 

The  founders  of  these  two  orders,  Dominic  and  Francis, 
were  wholly  different  men,  only  alike  in  a  common  desire 
to  reform  the  church,  and  reach  tlie  souls  of  the  poor. 
Dominic  was  a  thinker,  scholar,  and  a  scholastic ;  Francis 
was  a  man  of  heart,  affection,  aspiration.  Dominic  was  a 
dogmatic  theologian;  a  persecutor  of  heretics;  "kind  to 
his  friends,  cruel  to  his  enemies,"  says  Dante ;  unscrupu- 
lous, inaccessible  to  pity ;  the  wise  serpent  of  the  church. 
Francis  was  the  gentle  dove,  who  fled  from  the  world  to 
espouse  the  "  Lady  Poverty  ; "  poetic  and  passionate.  "  The 
one,"  says  Dante  again,  "  was  a  cherub  in  wisdom,  the 
other  a  seraph  in  love." 

Dominic,  Domingo,  a  Spaniard,  born  in  1170,  was  distin- 
guished, wlien  a  boy,  for  his  deep  religious  convictions  and 
his  love  of  knowledge.  He  became  early  a  preacher,  monk, 
and  misssionary ;  and  went  to  the  South  of  France,  where 
lieresies  of  all  kinds  prevailed,  and  where  the  people  had 
become  almost  wholly  alienated  from  the  Catholic  Church. 
He  tried  to  convert  these  heretics  by  going  among  them  as 
a  brother  and  friend;  but  failing  in  this  effort,  and  the 
Pope  having  ordered  a  crusade  against  the  Albigenses, 
Dominic  had  to  decide  whether  to  resist  this  great  cruelty 
or  to  follow  as  one  of  its  abettors.  Unfortunately  he  chose 
the  latter  course,  and  to  him  was  committed  the  taslv  of 
sentencing   to   the  stake  those  whom  he  decided  to  be 


102  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

heretics.  As  the  logical  consequence  of  this  course,  the 
Dominicans  had  the  control  afterward  of  the  Inquisition 
in  all  lands ;  but  the  Dominicans  were  also  great  preachers 
and  scholars,  and  from  them  came  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
the  Prince  of  Eoman  Catholic  theology. 

Tlie  thirteenth  century  was  a  memorable  one  in  many 
ways.  It  saw  Magna  Charta  signed  in  England ;  it  wit- 
nessed the  vast  Mogul  conquests  in  Asia ;  it  beheld  Gen- 
gis  Khan  threatening  the  civiHzation  of  Europe ;  and 
the  Papal  Crusade  destroying  the  civilization  of  Southern 
France.  In  this  century  the  pointed  architecture  reached 
its  highest  degree  of  development,  for  then  arose  the  cathe- 
drals of  Antwerp  and  Cologne,  of  Brussels  and  Ghent,  of 
Salisbury  and  Westminster,  of  Amiens  and  Reims,  — 
and  a  multitude  of  others.  It  was  the  epoch  of  the  Schol- 
astics, of  Albertus  Magnus  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  of  Bona- 
ventura  and  Roger  Bacon.  Dante  lived  in  this  century, 
and  Cimabue ;  Rodolph  of  Hapsburg  founded  the  Austrian 
Empire,  and  the  First  Edward  conquered  Wales  and  Scot- 
land. But  of  all  the  events  of  the  period,  none  was  more 
important  to  mankind  than  the  rise  of  the  mendicant 
orders ;  for  they  brought  about  a  revival  of  religion,  and 
saved  the  Roman  Church  from  its  tendency  to  corruption 
and  decay,  —  as  the  Jesuits  saved  it  afterward.  These 
preaching  friars  afterward  became  also  corrupt,  and,  in 
their  turn,  outlived  their  usefulness ;  yet  they  did  a  good 
work  in  their  time. 

We  have  in  Plate  XII.  a  sjood  illustration  of  a  convent 
of  the  order  of  begging  friars  called  Augustines,  or  Augus- 
tinians.  They  were  also  called  Begging-Hermits,  Bare- 
foot Friars,  or  Austin  Friars.  They  adopted  their  rules 
as  mendicants  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  bird's-eye  view  here  given  of  St.  Marie  de  Vaux- 
verts,  near  Brussels,  built  at  the  close  of  the  tifteeuth  century, 


Plate    XII.  —  Mouasterv  of  ilic  AiiL:ii,->tiii(.-  Moiik^,  iii'.ir  IJius.slIs. 


104  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   PISTORY. 

shows  US  the  church,  A,  very  plain,  without  transept  or 
towers ;  B,  the  library ,  C  and  D,  the  dormitories ;  JS,  the 
monks'  cloister ;  F,  the  cloister  for  lay-brethren ;  G,  the 
refectory ;  H,  the  infirmary ;  /,  the  kitchen ;  K,  rooms 
for  male  guests ;  L,  for  female  guests ;  M,  houses  for  me- 
chanics ;  iV",  house  of  the  emperor  Charles  V. ;  0,  an  oak 
under  which,  as  is  said,  seven  crowned  heads  were  once 
assembled;  P,  principal  entrance;  B,  cow-houses  and  grana- 
ries ;  S,  gardens,  alleys,  chapels,  groves  of  trees,  etc. 

The  monasteries  built  in  the  thirteenth  century  assumed 
a  military  character,  as  shown  in  Plate  XIII.  The  abbots 
were  now  feudal  vassals,  and  did  militaiy  service.  Instead 
of  being  built  in  valleys,  for  agricultural  purposes,  like  the 
early  Cistercian  convents,  the  abbeys  were  erected  in  de- 
fensible positions,  like  that  on  Mount  St.  Michael.  This 
monastery,  built  in  1260,  sustained  several  sieges,  and  was 
only  taken  by  an  English  army  in  1422.  Our  plate  shows 
an  abbey  of  St.  Allyre,  at  Clermont,  in  Auvergne,  France, 
half-monastic  and  lialf-military.  A  is  the  gate,  defended 
by  a  tower ;  V,  the  stables.  i>  indicates  an  outside  en- 
closure defended  by  low  walls,  leading  to  a  second  battle- 
mented  gate  by  which  one  enters  a  passage  commanded  by 
the  church,  B,  well  fortified  with  an  indented  parapet.  The 
apse  of  the  church  is  defended  by  two  towers.  One  com- 
mands the  passage,  the  other  the  entrance  S.  Through  this 
fortified  gate  we  enter  G,  the  cloister.  B  and  F  are  donjon- 
keeps,  commanding  the  courts  and  lower  buildings.  / 
shows  the  dormitories  ;  K,  the  refectory ;  L,  the  kitchen ; 
H,  the  library;  0,  the  infirmary;  M,  the  abbot's  house; 
X,  the  granaries  and  cellars.  Gardens  and  orchards  are  at 
P  and  T. 

The  order  of  Chartreux  was  founded  at  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century,  by  St.  Bruno,  having  a  more  austere  rule 
than  that  of  Citeaux.     It  required  the  monks  to  fast  every 


,/>>  ^  ^*^ 


Plate  XIII.  — Fort iQcd  Convent,  Abbey  of  St.  Allyrc. 


106  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Friday  on  bread  and  water,  to  abstain  altogether  from 
meat,  even  in  case  of  illness,  to  wear  a  coarse  robe,  and  to 
live  in  the  most  absolute  solitude.  Only  the  prior  and 
factor  of  the  monastery  could  ever  go  outside  of  its  walls. 
Each  monk  had  his  own  cell,  which  he  must  not  leave. 
He  must  keep  a  perpetual  silence,  saluting  his  brother 
monks  without  speech.  The  principal  house  of  this  order 
was  la  Grande-Chartreuse,  near  Grenoble. 

The  plan  on  the  opposite  page,  Plate  XIV.,  is  of  the 
Chartreuse  of  Clermont,  as  modified  in  1676.  0  is  the 
entrance,  opening  to  a  court,  around  which  are  rooms  for 
guests  ;  'cifoiirnil,  or  bakehouse,  is  at  T.  At  iV^are  stables, 
with  rooms  for  the  cowherds ;  at  Q,  granaries.  C  is  a 
small  elevated  court,  with  a  fountain,  reserved  for  the 
prior ;  G,  his  rooms ;  B,  the  room  for  the  choir ;  A,  the 
sanctuary ;  Z,  the  sacristy ;  M,  chapels ;  E,  chapter-house ;  S, 
a  small  cloister ;  Jf,  the  refectory ;  V,  the  kitchen  ;  D,  large 
enclosure,  surrounded  by  the  galleries  of  the  cloister ;  R, 
watch-towers  ;  Z,  the  prison ;  /,  the  cells  ;  H,  a  dove-house. 

Each  cell  had  a  gallery  to  shut  out  external  sounds ;  a 
small  garden ;  a  room  which  could  be  warmed ;  another 
containing  a  bed,  a  bench,  a  table,  and  a  book-shelf;  a 
tower,  by  which  food  was  introduced,  but  so  arranged  that 
the  monk  could  not  see  what  was  passing  outside.  Only 
on  certain  festivals  were  these  monks  allowed  to  eat  in 
common. 

Of  the  Jesuits  I  am  to  speak  afterward.  Of  the  military 
monks  T  have  nothing  to  say.  Like  all  warriors,  all  sol- 
diers, their  influence  on  human  progress  was  negative,  not 
positive,  —  only  to  check  and  arrest,  not  to  create.  War 
may  prevent  evil,  and  so  be  negatively  a  good.  It  arrested 
at  Marathon  the  destructive  power  of  Persia ;  it  arrested  at 
Gettysburg  the  destructive  power  of  Slavery.  It  may 
break  the  yoke  of  the  oppressor,  and  resist  the  advance  of 


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Plate  XIV.  —  Ground  Plan  of  Chartreuse  of  Clermont. 


108         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTOEY. 

despotism  ;  but  the  seeds  of  growth  are  not  in  it,  and  it  is 
the  least  interesting  fact  in  human  history. 

St.  Francis,  the  founder  of  the  great  Franciscan  order, 
was  born  at  Assisi  in  1228.  The  love  of  nature  was  an 
instinct  in  his  soul,  developed  perhaps  by  the  beautiful 
scenery  of  the  Umbrian  hills.  Assisi  stands  on  their 
slope,  overlooking  a  vast  and  fertile  plain  which  stretches 
out  to  where  Perugia  lifts  itself  out  of  the  blue  horizon. 
The  portrait  of  St.  Francis  indicates  dignity,  a  clear  intelli- 
gence, generous  sympathy,  and  refinement  of  character.  A 
phrenologist  would  notice  the  great  development  of  ven- 
eration and  the  other  religious  sentiments,  the  powerful 
organs  of  perception,  and  the  weight  of  the  propelling  fac- 
ulties. The  expression  of  his  face  has  nothing  of  the 
ascetic.  It  is  not  after  the  type  of  the  mediaeval  saint. 
He  does  not  hang  his  head  with  conventional  humility, 
but  carries  it  erect,  with  a  soldierly  manliness.  His  eye 
is  full  of  fire ;  and,  to  characterize  his  features  in  one 
phrase,  we  may  say  that  they  are  those  of  a  Christian 
gentleman. 

What  the  face  indicates,  —  that  was  the  man.  In  his 
youth  —  gay,  extravagant,  fond  of  dress,  living  for  pleasure, 
serving  as  a  soldier  in  a  war  with  Perugia,  —  he  seemed 
intended  for  the  highest  secular  or  military  honors.  His 
father  and  mother  said  :  "  He  is  like  the  son  of  a  prince ; 
not  like  our  son,"  —  encouraging  his  lavish  generosity. 
Yet  while  sinoincr  love-son^s  in  the  streets  of  Assisi  with 
his  gay  companions,  and  squandering  his  father's  money  in 
midnight  revels,  —  "if,"  says  his  latest  biograplier,  "some 
poor  creature  thrust  out  a  supplicating  hand  by  the  way- 
side, he  was  ever  ready  to  pause  with  that  sweet  com- 
punction of  superior  happiness  which  is  so  beautiful  in 
youth."  " Liheralis  et  hilaris''  said  his  friends ;  all  glad- 
ness in  his  outward  life,  and  yet  the  living  stream  of  nobler 


TIIE   CHRISTIAN   MONKS  AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.         109 

aspimtions  ran  deep  below,  ready  to  a])pear  when  the  call 
came. 

A  ill  of  illness,  at  twenty-five  years  of  age,  awakened 
his  better  nature.  Soon  after,  going  out,  lie  met  a  beggar 
in  tattered  garments,  whom  lie  recognized  as  having  been 
one  of  the  richest  men  in  the  place.  Immediately  he  gave 
him  his  own  rich  dress,  and  took  tiie  torn  coat  of  the 
beggar  in  exchange.  This  was  his  first  courtship  of  his 
I'uture  bride,  "  The  Lady  Poverty." 

Shortly  after,  while  kneeling  for  worship  in  an  old 
church  which  had  become  dilapidated,  he  heard  a  voice 
saying :  *'  Francis !  seest  thou  not  that  my  house  is  in 
ruins  ?  Go  and  restore  it  for  me ! "  "  With  good-will, 
Lord,"  he  instantly  replied,  supposing  that  he  was  called 
to  repair  the  old  church  ;  but  he  afterward  found  that  it 
was  an  invitation  to  rebuild  and  purify  the  Christian 
Church  Universal. 

In  his  twenty-sixth  year  he  devoted  himself  to  religion. 
It  was  not  his  purpose  to  be  a  monk,  but  simply  to  give 
up  all  else  in  order  to  preach  to  men  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Although  rejoicing  in  self-sacrifice,  devoted  to  re- 
nunciation, he  was  never  a  mere  ascetic.  His  jjrood  com- 
mon-sense  presers-ed  him  from  this.  But  he  accepted,  in 
the  most  literal  sense,  the  saying  of  Christ :  "  Provide 
neither  gold  nor  silver  nor  brass  in  your  purses;  neither 
two  coats,  nor  shoes,  nor  staff;  but  go  and  preach.  The 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand."  He  devoted  himself 
and  his  followers  to  absolute  poverty.  Other  monastic 
orders  renounced  wealth  for  their  individual  members,  but 
accepted  vast  property  for  the  use  of  the  community.  Fran- 
cis determined  that  neither  as  individuals  nor  as  a  com- 
nuinity  should  his  followers  have  anything  but  the  most 
meagre  necessaries  of  life.  His  order  fell  away  from  this 
rule,  and   became   proprietors  of  large  estates ;    but   not 


110         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

while  he  lived.  He  took  a  coarse  robe  and  tied  it  round 
his  body  with  a  cord,  from  which  came  one  of  the  names 
of  the  order,  Cordeliers.  He  and  his  followers  were  to  live 
by  begging ;  but  they  were  not  to  be  idle.  They  preached 
and  prayed,  they  helped  the  sick  and  suffering,  and  sought 
to  be  useful  in  all  ways. 

Francis  rejoiced  in  nature  as  a  manifestation  of  God. 
He  wandered  over  the  Umbrian  hills,  praising  God  for  his 
works.  He  blessed  the  Lord  for  the  sun  and  moon ;  for 
"  Brother  Day  "  and  "  Sister  Night ; "  for  his  Mother  the 
Earth  ;  for  the  jocund  fire,  the  flowers,  and  stars.  Every- 
thing which  God  made  became  a  person  and  a  friend. 
Hearing  a  multitude  of  birds  singing,  he  said  to  his  com- 
panions :  "  Our  sisters,  the  birds,  are  praising  their  Maker. 
Let  us  go  into  their  midst  and  sing  to  the  Lord  the  Canoni- 
cal Hours."  When  the  brethren  were  not  able  to  hear 
each  other,  on  account  of  the  twittering  and  chirping,  the 
lesfend  narrates  that  Francis  turned  to  the  birds  and  said : 
"  Sisters  !  Cease  your  song  till  we  have  rendered  praise  to 
God ; "  and  the  birds  were  all  silent.  Another  tale  nar- 
rates that  the  swallows  once  interrupted  his  sermon  by 
their  twittering ;  whereupon  Francis  turned  to  these  sweet 
disturbers  of  his  discourse  and  said  courteously :  "  My  sis- 
ters, it  is  now  time  for  me  to  speak.  Since  you  have  had 
your  say,  listen  in  your  turn  to  the  word  of  God,  and  be 
silent  till  the  sermon  is  finished."  Of  course,  they  obeyed. 
Other  stories  tell  us  of  hares  and  rabbits  hiding  themselves, 
from  their  pursuers,  in  his  robe.  Lambs  were  his  special 
favorites.  In  another  story  we  hear  of  a  fierce  wolf  which 
was  doing  much  harm,  and  which  no  single  man  ventured 
to  attack.  Francis  went  to  find  it,  and  when  the  wolf 
came  toward  him  with  open  mouth,  he  made  the  sign  of 
the  cross  over  it  and  said  :'  "  Come  hither,  Brother  Wolf ; 
I  command  thee,  in  Christ's  name,  that  thou  do  no  evil  to 


THE   CHRISTIAN    MONKS    AND    MONASTIC   LIFE.         Ill 

me  or  to  others."  Then  the  wolf  came  aud  crouched  at 
tlie  feet  of  the  saint,  who  exhorted  him  as  follows: 
"Brother  wolf!  thou  hast  done  much  damage  in  these 
parts,  slaying  the  creatures  of  God  ;  —  wherefore  men  mean 
to  kill  thee;  but  I  will  make  peace  between  thee  and 
them,  and  will  see  that  thou  hast  food  every  day  if  thou 
wilt  promise  to  kill' no  more  creatures."  The  wolf  having 
nodded  assent,  Francis  led  him  to  the  town,  and  explained 
the  arrangement ;  and  afterward  the  townsfolk  fed  the  wolf, 
wlio  did  no  more  harm.  These  little  stories  are  probably 
pleasant  fictions,  which,  nevertheless,  indicate  the  character 
of  tlie  man. 

The  Pope  giving  his  permission,  Francis  established  his 
order  of  Begging  Brothers,  or  friars;  which  —  needing  no 
foundation,  no  costly  building,  nor  land  —  spread  among 
the  people  so  that  at  the  first  Chapter,  held  two  years 
after  its  establishment,  five  thousand  of  the  brothers  were 
present.  Francis  had  made  no  preparation  to  feed  this 
great  multitude,  but  tlie  people  of  the  neighboring  towns 
brought  food  in  abundance.  The  brethren  made  tents 
for  themselves  out  of  mats,  whence  this  was  called  the 
"  Chapter  of  Mats." 

Francis  was  seized  with  the  desire  of  converting  the 
head  of  the  Mohammedan  church ;  and  so,  taking  his  life 
in  Ids  hand,  he  w^ent  through  the  lines  of  the  Crusaders  into 
the  camp  of  the  Sultan  at  Damietta,  and  preached  to  him. 
He  was  treated  kindly  and  dismissed  courteously. 

The  order  multiplied  rapidly.  Twenty-four  years  after  his 
death  it  had  8,0U0  convents  and  200,000  monks.  It  was 
subdivided  into  many  smaller  bodies,  such  as  the  Capuchins, 
Minorites,  Observants,  Recollects,  Fraticellians,  and  others. 
The  wonderful  extension  of  this  order  appears  from  the 
marvellous  fact  that  in  the  next  century,  in  the  terrible 
plague  of  the  Black  Ueath,  124,000  Franciscans  fell  vie- 


112     EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

tims  to  their  zeal  in  the  care  of  the  sick  and  dying.  Fran- 
cis received  the  name  of  the  Seraphic  Father ;  St.  Clara 
was  called  the  Seraphic  Mother ;  and  St.  Buonaventura 
was  the  Seraphic  Doctor.  Besides  these  great  names,  there 
were  associated  with  this  body,  St.  Anthony  of  Padua; 
St.  Louis,  King  of  France ;  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary ;  St. 
Margaret  of  Cortona ;  Duns  Scotus ;  Iloger  Bacon ;  Cardi- 
nal Ximenes ;  and  five  or  six  popes.  The  spirit  of  love, 
which  was  in  their  founder,  long  continued  to  distinguish 
this  body  of  Grey  Friars  ;  tliough  this  order  also  finally  de- 
generated, like  the  rest,  into  habits  of  idleness  and  luxury. 

§  8.  The  Monastic  teindency  in  Protestantism.  —  Although 
the  Eeformation  rejected  the  monastic  system,  yet  the  same 
tendency  in  human  nature  to  fly  the  world,  and  to  seek  per- 
sonal salvation  by  acts  of  renunciation,  devotion,  aud  charity, 
has  reappeared  from  time  to  time  among  Protestants, 

One  of  these  Protestant  monastic  orders  is  that  of  the 
Moravians.  This  society  was  established  in  1722,  by  fol- 
lowers of  John  Huss  who  were  exiled  from  Bohemia  and 
Moravia.  They  settled  on  the  estate  of  Count  Zinzendorf, 
in  Saxony.  To  this  settlement  they  gave  the  name  of 
Hernhut,  or  the  Shelter  of  God.  The  Moravians  usually 
live  in  colonies,  and  are  devoted  to  missions  which  they 
have  carried  on  with  great  zeal,  especially  in  Greenland, 
Labrador,  the  West  Indies,  and  among  the  Tartars  in 
Siberia.  In  1875  they  had  in  Europe  68  congregations, 
witli  about  9,000  communicants ;  in  America,  75  congrega- 
tions, with  nearly  the  same  number  of  communicants  as  in 
Europe.  They  had  92  mission-stations,  with  333  mission- 
aries and  90,000  converts. 

The  chief  development  of  the  Protestant  monastic  life  in 
the  United  States  is  in  the  system  of  the  Shakers.  This 
is  the  oldest,  the  most  thoroughly  organized,  and  the  most 
flourishing  of  all.    It  was  founded  in  1782,  by  Anne  Lee,  at 


THE    CHKI3TIAN   MONKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.         113 

Lebanon  in  N.  Y.  She  was  born  in  Alancliester,  England, 
in  1746.  When  twenty-four  years  old  she  joined  some 
Quakers,  and  was  thrown  into  jail  for  their  peculiar  religious 
manifestations.  While  there  she  had  inward  visions,  like 
those  of  Buddha  and  George  Fox,  in  which  were  revealed 
to  her,  as  she  deemed,  the  nature  of  things  and  the  laws  of 
the  universe.  She  cume  to  America  in  1774,  with  some 
of  her  foUowiTS,  where  she  made  converts  to  lier  views. 

The  Shakers  have  eighteen  societies  scattered  through 
the  Union,  containing  about  twenty-five  hundred  })ersons 
in  all,  of  whom  about  two-thirds  are  women.  They  hold 
to  celibacy ;  to  a  community  of  goods ;  and  to  prudence, 
temperance,  economy,  and  cleanliness  in  all  things.  They 
reject  pictures,  ornaments,  and  amusements,  and  have  little 
to  do  with  art  or  literature.  They  believe  in  so-called 
spiritualism  and  its  manifestations ;  reject  the  -doctrines  of 
the  trinity  and  atonement,  —  believing  that  Christ  is  the 
chief  of  spirits,  who  was  first  embodied  in  Jesus,  and  after- 
ward in  mother  Anne  Lee.  Finally,  they  consider  them- 
selves to  be  the  only  true  church. 

Another  important  monastic  community  is  that  founded 
by  Rapp,  and  situated  at  Economy,  on  tlie  Ohio  River,  a  short 
distance  below  Pittsburg.  It  has  adopted  celibacy,  tliough 
the  men  and  women  do  not  live  in  diflerent  houses  like 
the  Shakers.  They  have  also  their  property  in  common, 
and  have  become  wealthy  as  a  community  by  industry 
and  systematic  economy.  Like  the  Shakers,  tliey  practise 
obedience  to  their  religious  superiors.  In  return,  ample 
provision  is  made  for  the  comfort  of  all  the  members,  both 
in  youth  and  age,  health  and  sickness.  The  Society  has 
continued  more  than  seventy  years,  and  has  accumulated 
property  amounting  to  two  or  three  millions  of  dollars.  It 
now  numbers  ouly  about  120  persons,  with  20  or  30 
adopted  children. 

8 


114         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

There  are  other  societies  of  a  somewhat  similar  char- 
acter in  the  United  States,  described  by  Mr.  Nordhoff.^ 
Such  are  the  Amana  Society,  in  Iowa,  containing  1,450 
members,  consisting  of  Germans,  and  founded  on  religion ; 
and  the  Separatists,  at  Zoar  in  Ohio,  —  also  Germans,  and 
holding  a  mystical  religious  faith.  The  last  have  their 
property  in  common,  have  300  members,  and  are  now 
worth  a  million  of  dollars,  though  beginning  in  poverty. 
Other  societies  described  by  Nordhoff  are  the  Oneida  Per- 
fectionists ;  the  Aurora  and  Bethel  communities ;  the  Ica- 
rians ;  the  Cedar  Vale  Commune ;  the  Social  Freedom 
Community ;  and  co-operation  communities,  which  do  not 
hold  common  property,  at  Vineland  and  elsewhere.  Eight 
hold  property  in  common ;  and  these  number  five  thou- 
sand persons,  own  some  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of 
land,  and  their  combined  wealth  amounts  to  twelve  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Besides  these  communities,  which  may  be 
regarded  as  successful,  there  have  been  more  than  fifty 
which  have  failed. 

Of  the  three  vows  of  obedience,  poverty,  and  celibacy, 
taken  by  all  the  monastic  orders  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  all  of  these  communities  adopt  the  first  and  sec- 
ond. All  submit  implicitly  to  the  rule  of  their  superior ; 
and  all,  like  the  monasteries,  hold  property  not  as  indi- 
viduals but  as  a  community.  Two,  the  Shakers  and 
Rappists,  take  the  third  vow,  of  celibacy.  Tlie  others, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Oneida  Perfectionists,  adopt 
family  life.  All  live  in  comfort,  are  free  from  anxiety 
about  their  future  support,  enjoy  good  health  and  long- 
life.  They  are  neat,  honest,  humane,  charitable,  temperate. 
All,  except  one  or  two,  are  based  on  religious  faith,  in  some 
particular  form.     Nevertheless,  out  of  the  fifty  millions  of 

1  "The  Communistic  Societies  of  the  United  States;"  by  Charles 
Noi'dlioii',  1875 ;  from  which  these  statistics  are  mostly  taken. 


THE   ClIUISTIAN    MONKS   AND    MONASTIC    LIFE.         115 

people  in  the  United  States,  only  about  live  thousand,  as 
we  have  seen,  enter  tliese  Protestant  monasteries.  01'  these, 
many  are  persons  wlio  have  not  enough  energy  for  the 
contiict  of  life,  —  who  prefer  comfort  with  peace,  to  excite- 
ment and  hope. 

Why,  we  may  ask,  is  tliere  so  little  of  the  monastic 
lite  ill  Trotestant- countries  ?  Why  was  Protestantism, 
from  the  very  first,  the  destruction  of  this  system  ?  The 
main  reason,  no  doubt,  was  that  Protestantism  itself  sat- 
isfied spiritual  and  moral  needs  which  had  driven  people 
into  monasteries.  ^len  entered  monasteries  because  sacra- 
mental reliijion  was  not  sufficient  for  them.  The  church 
offered  to  save  their  souls  by  baptism,  absolution,  and  the 
eucharist.  According  to  the  Roman  Catholic  theory  this 
was  euougli.  Any  niember  of  the  church  partaking  of  its 
sacraments  was  sure  of  eternal  life.  The  monastic  system 
did  not  deny  this  in  words,  but  contradicted  it  in  action, 
by  providing  another  way  of  salvation,  —  namely,  by  as- 
cetic sacrifices,  tlie  practice  of  piety  and  works  of  charity. 
One  proof  of  this  divergence  is  in  the  fact  that  the  "  regu- 
lars "  were  taken  from  the  control  of  the  secular  clergy, 
emancipated  from  the  rule  of  their  bishops,  and  made 
suV)ject  only  to  the  Pope  himself.  The  divergence  of  the 
systems  was  so  great  that  tlie  abbots  of  monasteries 
could  not  be  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  diocesan 
bishop. 

When  Protestantism  came,  it  at  once  established,  as  its 
fundamental  principle,  that  the  soul  is  not  saved  by  sacra- 
ments but  by  faith ;  and  faith,  in  their  sense,  included  all 
the  practices  of  piety  and  charity  by  wliich  the  monastery 
proposed  to  save  the  soul. 

But  wliile  Protestantism  thus  adopted  the  substance  of 
the  so-called  religious  life,  it  opposed  the  outward  methods 
of  seclusion  from  the  world,  and  the  triple  vows.      It  op- 


116         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

posed  all  enforced  celibacy,  obedience  to  a  human  superior, 
and  absolute  poverty.  Experience  had  conclusively  shown 
that  these  vows  did  not,  in  the  long  run,  tend  to  holy 
living.  Protestantism  means  liberty  and  progress,  both  of 
which  are  impossible  under  this  monastic  regime.  It 
therefore  put  an  end  to  these  institutions,  —  first  by  sat- 
isfying the  need  from  which  they  sprang;  and,  next,  by 
rejecting  the  theory  on  which  they  were  organized. 

Of  the  monk  as  an  anchorite  or  hermit  we  have  fewer 
instances  still  in  our  day  and  land.  Occasionally  a 
man  may  be  found  living  by  himself  in  the  woods,  being 
either  alienated  from  society  by  ill-treatment ;  or  being,  by 
some  special  idiosyncrasy,  incapacitated  for  the  conflict  of 
life  among  men.  The  most  noticeable  example  of  the 
modern  hermit  was,  perhaps,  Henry  Thoreau,  of  Concord, 
Mass.  Thoreau  built  a  hut  in  the  woods,  near  his  native 
town  of  Concord,  and  lived  there  alone  for  two  or  three 
years.  Mr.  Emerson  says  of  him  :  "  Few  lives  contain  so 
many  renunciations.  Bred  to  no  profession,  never  mar- 
ried, —  he  lived  alone,  never  went  to  church,  never  voted, 
refused  to  pay  a  tax  to  the  state,  ate  no  flesh,  drank  no 
wine,  never  knew  the  taste  of  tobacco ;  and,  tliough  a 
naturalist,  never  used  a  trap  or  a  gun."  This  may  seem 
much  in  our  day ;  though  thousands  of  idlers  may  be 
found  who  never  go  to  church,  never  vote,  never  pay  taxes, 
have  no  profession,  and  are  not  married.  Compared  wdth 
the  self-denials  of  the  Christian  ascetics  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, Thoreau's  life  was  one  of  self-indulgence  ;  and,  indeed, 
many  a  graduate  of  Harvard  gave  up  his  home,  marriage, 
and  profession,  and  encountered  greater  hardship  and  iso- 
lation, serving  in  the  war  for  Union  and  Freedom, —  with 
danger  of  sickness  and  death  beside.  All  depends  on  the 
motive  for  which  renunciations  are  made.  In  Thoreau's 
case  it  seemed  to  be  an  experiment,  —  a  wish  to  learn 


THE   CHRISTIAN    MONKS    AND    MONASTIC   LIFE.  117 

what  is  the  minimum  of  human  needs  for  a  man  of  re- 
fined tastes  and  culture.  Having  tried  his  experiment  for 
a  year  or  two,  he  resumed  his  place  in  society.  His  dis- 
tinction is  that  of  an  accomplished  naturalist  and  observer, 
and  his  hermit  life  nmst  be  regarded  as  an  episode.  It 
was  merely  "  camping  out "  a  little  longer  than  usual.  So 
that  his  wood  seolusion  forms  no  exception  to  the  rule 
that  the  age  of  hermits  and  cenobites  has  been  wholly  out- 
grown. Men  are  now  able,  if  they  choose,  to  be  in  the 
world  and  yet  not  worldly.  Tlie  idea  of  religion  has  ad- 
vanced thus  far,  and  we  cannot  go  back  again  to  the  lower 
level  of  mere  self-denial  for  its  own  sake.  Man  is  still 
equal,  as  many  facts  show,  to  self-den icil  for  the  sake  of 
others,  —  for  tlie  sake  of  the  country,  for  the  sake  of  free- 
dom, justice,  luimanity.  Livingstone  in  Africa,  with  his 
sweet,  strong,  humane  pur[)0sc,  is  a  far  higher  type  of  self- 
denial  than  St.  Anthony  in  the  desert  or  St.  Simon  on  his 
pillar.  The  young  men  who  left  happy  homes  and  glad 
hopes,  to  die  at  the  call  of  duty  in  the  great  war  for  Free- 
dom and  Union,  were  nobler  confessors  of  Christ  than  the 
squalid  monks  of  the  Thebaid.  The  power  of  martyrdom 
still  lives  in  every  soul  where  conscience  is  supreme,  but 
it  now  appears  only  when  God  calls  for  it  by  offering  a 
noble  cause.  Then  it  manifests  itself  once  more,  showing 
that:  — 

"  So  ni;^'b  is  grandeur  to  our  dust, 

So  close  is  God  to  man,  — 
When  duty  whispers  low  'Thou  must  !* 

The  hoy  replies  '  I  can  ! ' " 

§  9.  Tlic  Lcs>ions  of  Monasticisni.  —  The  study  of  monasti- 
cism  teaches  us  many  lessons.  It  sliows  what  an  aspiration 
there  is  in  human  nature  for  the  highest  good.  It  shows 
how,  for  the  sake  of  coming  nearer  to  God,  men  will  re- 


118         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

nounce  all  earthly  pleasure  and  joy,  —  glorying  in  afflic- 
tions and  not  counting  life  dear.  It  teaches  what  a 
sublime  power  of  self-denial  is  in  man ;  how  he  can  rise 
above  himself,  and  conquer  all  natural  desires,  in  the  pur- 
suit of  an  ideal  good.  It  thus  sets  aside  and  confutes  those 
theories  of  human  nature  which  rest  on  materialistic  or 
selfish  indulgence.  When  any  calm  philosopher,  specu- 
lating in  his  study,  tells  us  that  the  strongest  motive 
in  man  is  the  desire  of  personal  enjoyment,  —  human 
nature  refutes  that  small  theory  by  the  voice  of  the 
anchorites  of  India,  the  monks  of  Buddhism,  of  Moham- 
medanism, of  Judea,  of  ancient  Egypt,  and  of  fifteen  centu- 
ries of  Christendom. 

Monasticism,  in  its  various  phases,  shows  the  remarkable 
power  which  exists  in  the  Christian  religion  to  develop 
new  forms  suited  to  new  occasions.  Christianity  is  like  a 
tree,  ever  putting  forth  new  shoots.  Old  institutions  de- 
cay and  disappear;  new  ones  arise  and  take  their  place. 
The  anchorites,  who  once  gave  the  highest  tyj)e  of  religion 
to  the  world,  have  passed  wholly  away.  Seclusion  took 
the  place  of  solitude.  Useful  labor  replaced  useless  self- 
torture.  Then  came  the  time  when  the  monks  emerged 
from  their  cloisters  to  teach  the  young,  to  mingle  with  the 
poor  in  their  homes,  to  preach  in  the  fields.  But  the 
period  of  monastic  life  seems  now  drawing  to  an  end.  The 
thriving  orders  now  in  the  Catholic  Church  are  scarcely 
different  from  missionary  bodies,  philanthropic  societies,  or 
benevolent  associations.  The  convent  system  has  followed 
the  system  of  hermits  and  anchorites  into  decay  and  death. 
Eoman  Catholic  nations  have  suppressed  the  monasteries, 
sequestered  their  property  and  put  it  to  other  uses.  That 
which  England  did,  when  Henry  VIII.  turned  adrift  50,000 
monks  and  nuns  and  took  their  property,  has  been  done 
since  by  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy,  —  all  of  them  Eoman 


THE  CIIUISTIAN    MONKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.         119 

(Jatliolic  nali(jiis.  This  would  have  bcc.'u  impossible  uuless 
these  monasteries  had  long  since  ceased  to  be  of  use  to  the 
church  or  to  the  world. 

In  England,  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  there  was  one 
monk  or  nun  to  every  ten  persons.  In  Spain,  at  the  end 
of  the  last  century,  there  v^^ere  100,000  in  the  monasteries, 
or  one  to  every  hundred  of  the  population.  All  convents 
in  Spain  were  suppressed  in  1836,  and  their  property  con- 
fiscated;  and  rio  Nono,  by  a  Roman  Concordat,  in  1850, 
accepted  the  principle  of  this  suppression.  In  Italy,  in 
18G5,  there  were  2,380  religious  houses,  containing  29,000 
l)ersons.  In  18G6  these  were  suppressed,  and  their  prop- 
erty confiscated.  In  Portugal  the  monasteries  and  nun- 
neries were  suppressed  in  1834,  and  about  18,000  monks 
and  nuns  turned  into  the  world  In  these  countries  the 
Koman  Catholic  Church  was  supreme ;  and,  therefore,  the 
ease  with  which  such  institutions  were  abolished  shows 
that  they  had  ceased  to  have  any  influence  on  the  people, 
<  )r  to  be  of  any  use  to  the  church. 

Protestantism  dealt  a  fatal  blow  to  monasticism  in  bring- 
ing into  light  Christ's  own  method :  "  In  the  world,  but 
not  worldly." 

The  day  of  monasticism  has  passed.  People  do  not  now 
enter  Catholic  convents  to  practise  austerities  and  so  save 
the  soul ;  but  to  teach  children,  to  become  Sisters  of  Mercy, 
to  study  to  l)e  priests,  to  become  preachers.  The  eye  of 
every  convent  is  now  turned  toward  the  world.  Convents 
were  formerly  established  to  look  away  from  the  world. 
Xow  they  are  instruments  to  carry  on  Christian  work 
amonsf  men. 

Yet  in  their  time  thev  did  much  and  varied  good.  Thev 
were  a  refuge  for  the  weak  amid  the  storms,  ruin,  and 
op})ression  of  the  early  ages  of  Christendom.  They  were 
l)eaceful  islands  in  the  midst  of  a  wide  raging  sea.     They 


120  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

preserved  for  us  the  history  of  the  past.  They  kept  knowl- 
edge alive  in  the  world.  They  made  labor  honorable.  En- 
gaging in  agriculture,  horticulture,  and  many  arts  of  life, 
they  became  teachers  of  these  to  others. 

One  lovely  and  cheerful  picture  emerges  from  the  dark- 
ness and  fuiy  of  the  Merovingian  epoch  in  France,  which 
we  find  told  by  both  Thierry  and  Montalembert,  each  in 
his  own  way.  It  is  the  story  of  St.  Kadegund,  wife  of 
Clotaire.  She  was  the  daughter  of  a  Thuringian  king, 
made  captive  in  529,  and  was  taken  by  Clotaire,  son  of 
Clovis,  as  one  of  his  wives.  Lovely  in  face,  with  a  taste 
for  study,  she  shrank  from  the  ferocity  of  her  husband  and 
his  court.  She  associated  with  the  bishops,  the  only  men 
of  learning  to  whom  she  had  access,  and  at  last  lied  from 
her  husband's  atrocities  and  took  refuge  in  a  convent,  where 
she  finally  obtained  the  King's  reluctant  permission  to  re- 
main. She  established  at  Poitiers  a  convent  for  women, 
brouglit  into  it  two  hundred  girls,  and  there  passed  the 
last  years  of  her  life,  not  only  in  religious  exercises,  but 
also  in  reading  and  composing  poems,  taking  care  of  her 
flowers,  and  conversing  on  religious  and  literary  subjects 
with  the  young  people  about  her.  She  permitted  her  nuns 
to  go  out  and  visit  their  friends,  and  their  friends  to  come 
in  and  visit  them.  They  even  had  dramatic  entertain- 
ments. A  troubadour,  Venantius  Fortunatus,  visiting  the 
convent,  remained  there  for  many  years,  writing  poems 
and  hymns  for  Eadegund,  and  recording  for  us  the  happy 
and  pure  friendship  which  existed  between  the  Queen,  tlie 
Abbess,  and  himself.  In  the  midst  of  tlie  vast  Sea  of  Ice 
which  pours  down  from  Mont  Blanc,  travellers  love  to 
visit  a  little  spot  containing  a  few  green  buslies,  glasses  and 
flowers,  which  flourish  surrounded  by  the  moving  mass  of 
frozen  river.  So,  amid  the  cruelties  vnd  terrors  of  the 
sixth  century,  such  a  little  spot  of  peace  and  innocent  hap- 


THE   CIIRISTIAI^J    MONKS   AND    MONASTIC   LIFE.  121 

piness  as  the  convent  of  Kadegund,  attracts  and  pleases 
the  mind. 

Every  monastery  was  bound  to  be  a  centre  of  hospitality 
and  charity.  By  the  monks  the  poor  were  protected,  tlie 
nobles  overawed,  the  sick  tended,  the  traveller  sheltered, 
the  prisoner  ransomed.  A  hermit  would  sometimes  estab- 
lish himself,  with  a  boat,  by  a  bridgeless  stream,  and  de- 
vote himself  to  ferrying  travellers  across.  When  leprosy 
shocked  and  disgusted  Europe,  the  monks  founded  hos- 
pitals to  relieve  it.  The  [)ilgrim  who  went  from  afar  to 
see  some  saint  famous  for  his  lioliness  and  miracles,  and 
found  him  in  the  fields  or  in  a  workshop  at  labor,  took 
away  a  new  idea  of  the  dignity  of  toil.  The  monasteries 
were  sanctuaries  to  which  the  persecuted  fled  for  refuge. 
They  sent  out  missionaries  who  converted  the  savage  in- 
•vaders  from  the  North  and  the  East,  and  spread  the  seeds 
of  a  future  civilization  from  Lombardy  to  Sweden.  Within 
the  monastery  thought  was  comparatively  free  ;  the  studies 
of  natural  history  and  physical  science  were  there  earned 
on ;  and  such  men  as  EoGjer  Bacon  and  Erif^ena  studied 
and  thought  in  the  libraries  of  the  convents,  —  the  only 
libraries  then  in  Europe. 

How  happened  it  then,  since  the  monks  did  so  much  good 
and  grew  into  such  wealth  and  power,  that  the  monastic 
institutions  fell  so  utterly  into  ruin  ?  The  usual  answer  is 
that  their  usefulness  and  devotion  made  them  the  objects 
of  reverence  and  love;  this  brought  to  tliem  wealth  and 
power;  wealth  and  power  brought  corrujition  and  ill-will. 
So  far  as  it  goes,  this  is  true.  Every  abbey,  as  it  became 
rich,  relaxed  its  rules.  Exempt  from  the  supervision  of 
bishops,  tlie  inmates  at  last  came  to  do  "  what  M-as  right  in 
their  own  eyes."  Protected  by  the  "  benefit  of  clergy  "  from 
the  authority  of  the  secular  magistrate,  they  could  commit 
the  worst  crimes  with  comparative  impunity.     They  were 


122  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

an  aristocracy,  with  greater  wealth  and  power  than  had 
belonged  to  the  feudal  barons,  who  were,  in  many  coun- 
tries, conquered  and  superseded  by  them.  This  power  and 
wealth  drew  into  their  ranks  unworthy  persons,  whose  con- 
duct increased  the  odium  which  their  luxury  had  created. 
The  greatest  efforts  w^ere  made  to  reform  the  convents,  but 
in  vain.  The  highest  church  authorities  attemj)ted  in  vain 
to  put  an  end  to  those  abuses.  The  literature  of  Europe 
was  filled  with  denunciations  of  the  vices  of  monks  and 
friars.  The  revenues  of  the  monasteries  w^ere  continually 
increasing.  Dying  men  were  taught  that  they  could  save 
their  souls  by  large  legacies  to  these  institutions.  To  give 
to  the  church  was  made  almost  another  sacrament.  Monks 
forged  charters  in  their  owm  favor,  at  the  time  when  none 
but  themselves  could  read  or  WTite.  In  short,  they  had 
the  w^orst  vices  of  privileged  orders,  and  show"  how  unablg 
such  communities  are  to  resist  the  temptations  of  their 
position.  They  had  begun  to  be  an  injury  rather  than  a 
benefit  to  the  church  before  the  Eeformation  came  to  take 
away  their  remaining  usefulness.  Then  the  teaching  and 
working  orders  took  their  place;  and  these  great  institu- 
tions are  remembered  only  by  such  picturesque  ruins  as 
those  of  Tintern  and  Melrose,  such  romances  as  Scott's 
"Monastery"  and  "Abbot,"  such  poems  as  Chaucer's  "Can- 
terbury Tales,"  and  histories  like  Montalembert's  "  Monks 
of  the  West."  The  system  which,  with  all  its  merits, 
inverted  the  special  features  of  Christianity,  and  taught 
that  to  retire  from  the  world  was  better  than  to  reform  the 
world,  —  was  doomed  by  the  divine  law  of  progress  to 
sure  extinction.  When  Jesus  said  that  on  the  two  com- 
mandments, "  Love  to  God  and  Love  to  Man,"  and  not  on 
the  first  only,  hang  all  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  he 
pronounced  the  irrevocable  doom  of  the  hermit  and  the 
cloister. 


THE  CIIRISTLVN   MOMKS   AND   MONASTIC   LIFE.         123 


V. 

AUGUSTINE,  ANSELM,  AND   BERNARD. 

§  1.  Introduction.  —  We  will  next  consider  the  charac- 
ters of  three  men,  each  of  whom  has  made  an  epoch  in 
religious  history,  —  Augustine,  Anselm,  and  Bernard.  The 
first,  Augustine,  was  an  inspired  soul,  a  prophet  of  truth, — 
cue  of  those  in  whom  certain  religious  ideas  become  in- 
carnate, visible,  tangible ;  one  through  whom  spiritual 
things  are  made  accessible  to  whole  generations  of  human 
beings.  The  second,  Anselm,  was  a  thinker,  an  intel- 
lectual workman,  living  in  the  realm  of  abstract  ideas 
and  compelling  them  to  assume  shape  and  form.  As 
spirit  was  made  flesh  in  Augustine,  so  thought  became 
flesh  in  Anselm.  The  third,  Bernard,  was  a  reformer,  — 
one  made  up  of  moral  convictions,  possessed  by  the  sense 
of  riglit  and  wrong ;  bound  to  "  cry  aloud  and  spare  not,"  to 
show  his  generation  its  sins,  to  judge  by  a  divine  law  all 
mankind,  whether  peasants,  princes,  or  popes. 

In  speaking  of  these  three  men  I  vvisli,  at  least,  to  indi- 
cate the  mighty  influence  each  has  exerted  on  human  liis- 
tory;  and  how  the  direction  of  thouglit  and  action  may  be 
accelerated  or  retarded,  modified  or  clianged,  during  long 
centuries,  by  the  ideas  which  take  possession  of  a  single 
soul. 

§  2.  77^c  Life  of  AvfjKstine  as  described  in  his  "  Confes- 
sionsy  —  Aurelius  Augustine  was  born  in  Tagaste  in  Nu- 
midia,  in  Africa,  on  Nov.  13,  354  A.D.     His  father  wns  a 


124         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

poor  freedman  of  that  place.  His  mother,  Monica,  was  a 
pious  Christian,  and  the  principles  of  Christianity  were 
impressed  by  her  on  his  earliest  childhood.  No  doubt, 
also,  the  sight  and  knowledge  of  her  virtues,  and  their 
source,  was  a  tie  never  quite  broken,  which  in  all  his  wan- 
derings held  him  still  to  Christ ;  for  truths  so  impressed 
on  our  childhood  cannot  be  wholly  effaced.  We  may  for- 
sake them,  we  may  turn  away  from  them,  but  they  still 
hold  us. 

In  giving  the  story  of  his  life  I  shall  mostly  follow  that 
strange  and  fascinating  book,  his  "  Confessions."  It  is  an 
autobiography,  written  in  the  presence  of  Gttd  and  ad- 
dressed to  God  tliroughout.  Full  of  a  glowing  piety,  it 
throws  bright  gleams  upon  life  and  character.  It  is  a 
lonsj  act  of  devotion  in  which  all  the  events  of  a  life  are 
narrated,  and  discussed  with  God.  It  is  an  anomalous 
book,  wliich  was  destined,  by  its  plan,  either  to  fail  utterly 
and  to  be  infinitely  disagreeable ;  or  else  to  succeed,  as  it 
has  succeeded,  in  deeply  interesting  many  feeling  hearts 
during  long  centuries.  Many  great  works  of  this  sort  have 
been  written  from  different  points  of  view.  The  ancient 
Greeks  and  Eomans  indeed  did  not  have  them  ;  they  were 
not  introspective.  Self-consciousness  came  into  literature 
with  Christianity;  and  its  first  and  best  picture  of  the 
inner  life  is  perhaps  given  in  these  "  Confessious  "  of  Au- 
gustine. Eousseau's  "  Confessions  "  are  those  of  a  passionate 
egotist.  The  "  Poetry  and  Truth  "  of  Goetlie  is  the  autobi- 
ography of  a  literary  man.  Tlie  "Memoirs  of  Cellini"  are 
those  of  an  artist;  those  of  Alfieri,  of  a  poet.  All  these 
are  interesting  and  valuable.  Of  the  religious  kind  of  auto- 
biography, we  have  "Fox's  Journal,"  "Wesley's  Journals," 
"  Luther's  TaUe-Talk,"  and  the  like.  But  how  far  above 
them  all  in  fulness  of  life  is  the  memoir  of  Augustine. 

The  "Confessions"   of  Augustine   consist   of  thirteen 


AUGUSTINE,    ANSKLM,    AND    BKKNARD.  125 

chapters.  The  first  opens  witli  a  declaration  of  tlie  great- 
ness and  unsearchablenoss  of  God,  and  with  longing  desires 
for  perfect  union  with  Him.  "  Tlui  liouse  of  my  soul  is 
too  strait  for  thee  to  come  into;  hut  let  it,  O  Lord,  be 
enlarged,  that  thou  mayest  enter  in.  It  is  ruinous;  repair 
thou  it."  He  begins  his  biogra])hy  witli  his  birth  and 
infancy.  "  What  should  I  say  but  that  I  know  not  how 
I  came  into  this  dying,  life  (shall  I  call  it  ?),  or  living 
death?"  Then  he  passes  to  speak  of  his  boyhood,  which 
seems  to  have  been  remembered  by  him  with  not  much 
complacency. 

"  0  God,  my  Cod,  what  miseries  and  mockeries  did  I  now 
experience  when  obedience  to  my  teachers  was  pn^posed  to  me 
as  proper  for  a  hoy,  in  order  that  in  this  world  I  might  pros- 
per and  excel  in  tongue-science,  which  should  serve  to  the  praise 
of  men  and  to  deceitful  riches.  Next  I  was  put  to  school  to 
get  learning,  in  which  I,  poor  wretch,  knew  not  whnt  use  there 
was  ;  and  yet,  if  idle  in  learning,  I  was  beaten,  for  this  was 
judged  right  by  our  forefathers ;  and  many,  passing  the  same 
course  before  us,  framed  for  us  weary  paths,  multiplying  toil 
and  grief  to  the  sons  of  Adam," 

Upon  these  school-beatings  Augustine  dwells  with  much 
pathos  ;  and  remarks,  with  justice,  tliat  the  pain  was  aggra- 
vated by  the  child's  parents  and  teachers  making  sj)ort  of 
ids  torments,  which  were  as  great  to  him  as  tliose  of  tlie 
martyrs  were  to  them.  He  also  suggests  tliat  those  who 
])unish  children  for  idleness  would  do  well  to  reflect  that 
they  are  just  as  idle  themselves,  though  their  idleness  is 
called  business ;  and  tliat  the  tutor  who  beats  the  boy  for 
quarrelling  with  his  play-fullow,  is  more  embittered  him- 
self, and  angry,  if  worsted  in  a  trifling  discussion  with  his 
fellow-tutor. 

We  learn  from  these  "Confessions"  that  it  was  then 


126        EVENTS   AND  EPOCHS  IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

the  common  practice  to  defer  baptism  till  late  in  life ;  for 
Augustine  says  that  being  taken  very  sick,  and  fearing  tliat 
he  was  to  die,  he  begged  to  be  baptized ;  and  his  mother,  he 
adds,  would  eagerly  have  had  it  done,  had  he  not  suddenly 
recovered ;  "  And  so,"  says  he,  —  giving  the  universal  view 
of  the  age  —  "  as  if  I  must  needs  be  again  polluted  should 
I  live,  my  cleansing  was  deferred,  because  the  defilements 
of  sin  would,  after  that  washing,  bring  greater  and  more 
perilous  guilt." 

It  seems  that  Augustine  disliked  to  study  Greek,  though 
he  relished  Latin.  He  never,  I  believe,  became  a  great 
Greek  scholar ;  but  he  loved  to  read  in  Virgil  about 
^neas,  — "  to  lay  up  the  follies  of  ^neas,"  says  he, 
"  while  I  forgot  my  own,  and  to  weep  the  death  of 
Dido,  who  killed  herself  for  love,  instead  of  weeping  my 
own  death,  for  want  of  love  to  thee,  my  God."  In  his 
sixteenth  year  his  father,  anxious  for  the  education  of  his 
son,  sent  him  to  Carthage  to  prosecute  his  studies.  The 
freedom  he  thus  obtained  by  absence  from  home  led  him 
astray.  His  passions  were  impetuous  and  unrestrained, 
and  his  senses  tumultuous.  He  tells  a  story  of  his  going, 
with  some  other  young  men,  to  rob  an  orchard  of  pears. 
He  says  he  did  not  need  the  pears,  —  he  had  enough,  and 
better  than  those,  —  he  stole  them  for  the  sake  of  the  theft. 
*'  Foul  soul,"  adds  he,  "  falling  from  thy  firmament  to  utter 
destruction,  —  not  seekino-  auL>ht  throuoh  the  shame,  but 
the  shame  itself."  He  spends  some  time  in  investigating 
his  motives  in  this  act,  and  concludes  it  was  the  sport  of 
deceiving  others  ;  or,  as  we  say  now,  "  the  love  of  mischief." 
But  this  is  not  the  love  of  evil  as  evil.  It  is  not  the  evil 
which  is  loved  but  the  sport  in  it,  —  the  unexpectedness 
and  surprise  of  it.  Tliis  theft  of  Augustine's  shows,  in- 
deed, that  he  was  at  that  time  without  principles,  but  it 
does  not  quite  prove  him  to  have  been  totally  depraved. 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND   BEItNARD.  127 

§3.  His  lowjing  for  Truth.  Injlaeiice  of  Cicero.  Mani- 
cheism.  —  At  Cartilage  he  remained  IVoiii  liis  seventeenth 
till  his  nineteenth  year,  spending  his  time  partly  in  study 
and  partly  in  amusements.  The  first  great  impulse  which 
determined  his  soul  upward  came  from  reading  a  heathen 
book,  the  "  Hortensius,"  a  work  of  Cicero's ;  "  whose 
speech,"  says  Augustine,  "  all  admire,  —  not  so  his  heart." 
•This  work,  which  is  now  lost,  was  an  exhortation  to  the 
study  of  philosophy,  and  Augustine  speaks  of  it  as  awaken- 
ing in  his  soul  a  longing  for  heavenly  wisdom. 

**  This  book  altered  my  affections"  —  such  is  his  remarkable 
language  —  "  and  turned  my  prayers  to  thyself,  0  Lord,  and 
made  me  have  other  purposes  and  desires.  Every  vain  hope  at 
once  became  worthless  to  me ;  and  I  longed,  with  an  incredibly 
burning  desire,  for  an  immortality  of  wisdom  ;  and  began  now 
to  arise,  that  I  might  return  to  thee.  For  not  to  sharpen  my 
tongue  did  I  employ  that  book  ;  nor  did  it  infuse  into  me  its 
style,  but  its  matter." 

He  adds  that  this  book  inspired  him  with  the  love  of 
true  wisdom  and  pointed  out  the  errors  of  a  false  philoso- 
phy ;  that  it  kindled  his  desires  to  embrace  not  this  or 
that  sect  but  the  truth  wherever  it  might  be ;  and  his  only 
drawback  was  that  the  name  of  Clirist  was  not  in  it, 
since  he  had  imbibed  a  reverence  for  that  name  from 
his  infancy. 

"0  Truth,  Truth,  —  how  inwardly  did  then  the  marrow 
of  my  soul  pant  after  thee ! "  exclaims  he.  But  at  this 
time  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  jNIanicheans,  and  was 
attracted  by  their  mystical  language,  and  the  apparent 
depth  and  sweep  of  their  religious  philosophy.  The  ^lani- 
cheansi  like  the  Gnostics,  were  speculative  theosophers, 
who  sought  to  present  the  vast  abstractions  of  Eastern 
mysticism   under   the    forms   of   Christianity.      For   nine 


128         EVENTS  AND    EPOCHS    IN    RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

years,  from  the  age  of  nineteen  to  twenty-eight,  the  mind 
of  Augustine  was  under  the  control  of  this  system. 

It  was  a  system  of  unconditioned  dualism.  Mani,  its 
author,  seems  to  have  been  originally  a  magian,  or  priest 
of  the  great  Persian  religion,  whose  liturgies  are  pre- 
served in  the  Zend-Avesta.  He  sought  to  combine,  into  a 
relisfion  for  the  whole  world,  the  ideas  of  Zoroaster,  of  Bud- 
dhism,  and  the  Gnostic  sects  of  Cliristianity.  He  himself 
suffered  a  cruel  death  under  a  King  of  Persia,  somewhere 
about  A.D.  272,  but  his  religion  spread  widely  after  his 
death.  In  the  fourth  and  fiftli  centuries  it  had  ramified 
through  the  East,  through  Africa,  Sicily,  and  Italy.  A 
system  which  could  thus  extend  itself,  and  was  able  to 
master  the  vigorous  intellect  of  Augustine,  must  have  sat- 
isfied some  w^ants  both  of  the  mind  and  heart.  It  explained 
evil  by  making  it  a  positive  power,  independent  of  God. 
There  are  two  worlds,  of  light  and  of  darkness.  In  conflict 
with  each  other  the  dark  element  has  taken  captive  and 
imprisoned  some  of  the  light.  Out  of  this  mixture  was 
this  world  made,  and  in  man  are  both  elements.  Christ 
came  to  redeem  the  light  from  its  captivity,  and  Mani 
completes  the  work.  The  community  of  Manicheans  con- 
sisted of  two  orders,  —  the  Elect,  or  perfect,  and  the  Cate- 
chumens, or  learners.  The  Elect  were  bound  to  rigorous 
self-denial;  renounced  marriage,  lived  on  olives,  and  owned 
no  property.     The  worship  was  simple,  the  festivals  few. 

To  this  sect  Augustine  attached  himself,  much  to  the  sor- 
row of  his  mother.  He  had  read  the  Christian  Scriptures, 
but  they  were  too  simple,  both  in  matter  and  in  style,  for 
one  who  enjoyed  the  ideas  of  the  Gnostics  and  the  language 
of  Cicero.  His  mother,  shocked  at  his  new  principles,  began 
to  think  that  it  might  be  her  duty  to  drive  from  her  house 
her  apostate  son  (the  father  was  now  dead),  but  she  had  a 
dream  which  much  consoled  her.      She  imagined  herself 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSKLM,  AND    IJKKNARD.  129 

to  be  stanfliiif,'  on  a  wooden  measuring-rule,^  and  a  shining 
youth  came  to  her  and  asked  her  why  she  wept.  She  answer- 
ing that  it  was  because  of  her  son,  he  told  her  to  look  and 
see  that  lier  son  was  standing  where  she  stood.  So  lifting 
her  eyes  she  saw  him  standing  on  the  same  Jtule.  Augus- 
tine told  her  that  it  meant  that  she  must  not  despair  of 
becoming  one  day  what  he  was ;  but  the  good  lady  instantly 
replied  :  "  No  ;  it  was  not  told  me,  where  he,  thou  also,  but 
where  thou,  he  also;''  wliich  ready  reply,  he  admits,  some- 
what impressed  him.  A  priest  also,  whom  she  had  begged 
to  argue  with  her  son,  wisely  declined  the  task,  saying: 
"  This  would  only  strengthen  him  in  his  belief.  Let  him 
alone,  and  he  will  come  out  of  it  himself."  But  she,  weep- 
ing, continued  to  urge  him,  whereat  he  said :  "  Go  thy 
way,  and  God  bless  thee,  for  it  is  not  possible  that  the 
child  of  these  tears  should  perish  ; "  wliich  answer  slie 
received  as  if  it  had  sounded  to  her  from  Heaven. 

For  nine  years,  however,  till  he  was  twenty-eight,  he 
continued  in  this  belief  and  in  tlie  prutice  of  many  follies. 
He  taught  rhetoric  and  supporteil  himself  by  his  fees  as  a 
teacher.  He  describes,  in  patlietic  terms,  his  grief  for  the 
loss  of  a  young  friend,  a  fellow-student,  whom  he  had 
initiated  into  the  Manichean  doctrine.  "  He  was  nut  my 
friend  as  true  friendship  is ;  for  none  is  true  but  that 
which  Thou  cementest  together  by  the  love  which  is  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts  l)y  the  Holy  Ghost ;  yet  was  it  but 
too  sweet,  ripened  by  the  warmth  of  kindred  studies,  .  .  . 
sweet  to  me  above  all  the  sweetness  of  my  life."  As  this 
youth  lay  senseless  in  the  fever,  he  was  baptized ;  to  which 
Augustine  made  no  objection,  "  presuming  his  soul  would 
retain  rather  what  it  had  received  from  me  than  wliat  was 
wrought  upon  his  unconscious  body."  But  when  Augus- 
tine, after  his  friend  had  become  a  little  conscious,  began 

1  No  doubt  intending  the  "  Rule  of  Faith." 
9 


130  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

to  jest  at  the  baptism  he  had  received,  he  shrank  from 
him  as  from  an  enemy,  and,  to  Augustine's  surprise,  bade 
him  not  to  speak  again  in  that  way.  In  a  few  days  a 
relapse  took  him  off,  and  then  says  Augustine,  "at  this 
grief  my  heart  was  utterly  darkened,  and  whatever  I  beheld 
was  death.  ...  I  became  a  great  riddle  to  myself,  and 
only  tears  were  sweet  to  me.  ...  I  bore  about  a  shattered 
and  bleeding  soul.  .  .  .  All  things  looked  ghastly,  even  the 
very  light."  But  by  degrees  he  wore  away  his  anguish, 
for  "  times  lose  no  time,"  and  little  by  little  he  returned  to 
his  old  amusements,  and  found  the  most  consolation  in  the 
society  of  other  friends,  which  he  describes  thus  :  — 

"To  talk  and  jest  together;  to  do  kind  offices  by  turns;  to 
read  together  honeyed  books ;  to  play  the  fool  or  be  earnest 
together ;  to  dissent,  at  times,  as  a  man  might  with  his  own 
self,  and  so  season  our  more  frequent  consentings ;  sometimes 
to  teach  and  sometimes  learn  ;  to  long  for  the  absent  with 
impatience,  and  welcome  the  coming  with  joy,  —  these  things 
were  so  much  fuel  to  melt  our  souls  together,  and  out  of  many 
make  but  one." 

In  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  his  age  Augustine  had 
an  interview  with  Faustus,  a  famous  Manichean  bishop, 
who  came  to  Carthage.  Augustine  eagerly  sought  him  to 
get  an  answer  to  certain  objections  to  this  system  which 
had  long  troubled  him ;  but  he  found  that,  though  Faustus 
had  a  winning  eloquence,  he  could  teach  him  nothing  new 
on  those  points.  In  fact,  Faustus  modestly  declined  the 
discussion.     Says  Augustine  :  — 

''  He  knew  that  he  knew  not  these  things,  and  was  not 
ashamed  to  confess  it,  not  being  one  of  those  talking  persons, 
many  of  whom  I  had  endured,  who  undertook  to  tell  me  these 
things,  and  said  nothing.  But  this  man  had  a  heart,  if  not 
right  toward  Thee,  yet  not  altogether  treacherous  to  himself. 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND    BERNARD.  l.'U 

.  .  .  For  this  I  liked  him  better ;  for  fairer  is  tlie  modesty  of 
a  candid  mind  than  the  knowledge  of  those  things  that  I 
desired." 

§4.  His  Conversion.  Influence  of  Plato.  —  Dissatisfied 
with  the  Mauicheans,  yet  knowing  nothing  better,  Augus- 
tine determined  to  go  to  Home.  His  mother,  Monica, 
dreaded  this  journey,  and  finding  that  she  could  not  dis- 
suade him,  prayed  to  God  to  prevent  him.  "  But  Thou," 
says  Augustine,  "  in  the  depth  of  thy  counsels,  and  hear- 
ing the  main  point  of  her  prayer,  didst  not  regard  what 
she  then  asked,  that  Thou  mightest  make  me  what  she 
more  deeply  asked."  Augustine  first  taught  rhetoric  at 
liome  and  then  went  to  Milan  with  the  same  object,  and 
tliere  met  with  the  great  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan. 
"Thou  didst  lead  me  unconsciously  to  him,  that  he  might 
lead  me  consciously  to  Thee,"  —  is  the  remark  of  Augus- 
tine here.  Gradually  he  was  led  by  his  interest  in  the 
eloquence  of  Ambrose  to  become  interested  also  in  his 
doctrines.  He  renounced  ]\Ianicheism,  to  the  great  joy  of 
his  mother,  who  had  followed  him  to  Milan,  and  who 
hung  with  delight  on  the  teaching  of  Ambrose.  Augustine 
compares  the  joy  of  this  widow  at  receiving  her  son  again, 
whom  she  had  bewailed  as  one  dead,  to  that  of  the  widow 
at  the  gate  of  Nain,  whose  dead  son  Christ  delivered  alive 
again  to  his  mother.  But  still  Augustine  was  not  wholly 
a  Christian.  The  time  of  Ambrose  was  so  much  occupied 
that  Augustine  shunned  to  speak  with  him,  and  his  own 
days  were  filled  nearly  full  with  the  cares  of  teaching  and 
his  visits  to  his  influential  friends.  Another  step  forward 
he  took  by  becoming  interested  in  the  Platonic  philosophy 
and  in  Xeo-Platonisra ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that,  as  he 
ascribed  to  Cicero  his  first  impulse  toward  Truth,  he  now 
ascribes  to  the  Platonists  his  first  real  impulse  toward 
Christianity.     He  there  read  of  the  "Word  of  God  wliich 


132         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

shines  in  the  soul,  though  it  is  not  the  soul,  —  corresponding 
to  the  Word  of  which  St.  John  speaks.  The  effect  upon  his 
mind  is  strikingly  described  in  the  following  passage :  — 

"And  being  thence  admonished  to  return  to  myself,  I  en- 
tered even  into  my  inward  soul,  Thou  being  my  guide;  and  I 
was  able  to  do  so  because  thou  didst  become  my  helper;  and  I 
entered  and  beheld  with  the  eye  of  my  soul  —  even  beyond  my 
soul,  beyond  my  mind  —  the  light  unchangeable.  Not  the 
common  light,  nor  a  greater  of  the  same  kiud,  —  not  such  was 
this  light,  but  far  different ;  nor  was  it  above  my  soul  as  oil  is 
above  water,  .  .  .  but  above  my  soul  because  it  made  it.  0 
Truth  who  art  Eternity,  Love  who  art  Truth,  and  Eternity 
w^ho  art  Love,  —  thou  art  my  God  !  When  I  first  knew  Thee 
Thou  didst  lift  me  up  that  I  might  see  there  was  something 
for  me  to  see,  and  I  trembled  with  love  and  awe,  and  perceived 
I  was  far  off  from  Thee,  in  the  region  of  uulikeness." 

The  difficulty  now  with  Augustine  had  ceased  to  be 
intellectual  and  was  merely  moral.  He  had  no  more 
objections  to  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  but  he  could 
not  bear  to  leave  his  worldly  pleasures  and  begin  a  life  of 
self-denial.  In  his  views  of  Christianity,  however,  he  was 
what  we  now  call  a  Nationalist.  He  believed  Christ  to 
have  been  a  very  wise  and  good  man,  and  to  have  become, 
by  the  help  of  God,  an  example  to  us  of  a  perfect  life. 

The  next  means  of  his  further  progress  was  his  acquaint- 
ance with  Simplicianus,  an  excellent  Christian  teacher, 
who  had  converted  Ambrose.  When  Augustine  told  him 
of  his  studies  among  the  Platonists  he  was  much  pleased, 
and  glad  that  he  had  not  fallen  upon  the  writings  of 
other  schools  of  philosophy.  His  exhortations  produced 
nmch  effect  on  the  mind  of  Augustine ;  and  all,  as  he  says, 
that  now  detained  him  from  Christianity  was  reluctance  to 
leave  his  sins.  His  prayer  to  God  was  :  "  Give  me  chastity 
and  temperance,  —  only  not  yet!'    "  A  little  more  sleep,  and 


AUGUSTINE,    ANSKLM,    AM)    m:i:XAUD.  133 

a  little  more  slumber."  11(3  became  irresolute  and  unliappy, 
longiuj^  to  be  a  Christian  yet  unable  to  resolve  upon  it. 
One  day,  in  this  anxiety,  he  went  with  Iiis  friend  Alypius 
iVom  the  house  into  the  «,'arden,  nnd  thought  tliat  to  enter 
lieaven  he  did  not  need  to  g(j  as  far  as  he  had  gone  from 
the  house:  — 

"For  to  go  and  to  arrive  was  only  to  will  to  go,  resolutely 
and  thoroughl}',  and  not  to  turn  and  toss,  this  way  and  that, 
with  maimed  and  half-divided  will,  onC  part  sinking  as  another 
rose." 

Distracted  and  miserable,  he  walked  to  and  fro,  and  said 
to  himself,  "  Be  it  done  now,  —  twiu  I "  And  as  he  spake,  he 
almost  determined.  He  all  but  did  it,  yet  did  it  not.  His 
old  pleasures  seemed  to  say  to  him,  "  Dost  thou  cast  us  off 
forever  ?  "  lint  before  him  then  ap})eared  the  chaste  beauty 
of  self-control,  calling  him  iorward  ;  and,  in  the  agony  of  his 
irresolution,  he  cast  himself  on  the  ground,  bathed  in  tears. 
Finally  he  said  to  himself,  "  Why  not  this  hour  make  an 
end  of  my  uncleanness  ?  "  and  he  then  heard  a  voice  as  of 
cliildren  playing,  which  cried  out,  "  Take  up  and  read  — 
take  up  and  read."  He  arose  and  went  to  where  the 
manuscript  of  an  Epistle  of  Paul  was  lying,  —  oi)ened,  and 
read  these  words  :  "  Not  in  rioting  and  drunkenness,  not  in 
chambering  and  wantonness,  not  in  strife  and  envying; 
but  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  not  pro- 
vision for  the  flesh,  to  fullil  the  lusts  thereof."  .Vt  the  end 
of  this  sentence  a  serene  light  difl'used  itself  through  his 
heart,  and  all  the  darkness  of  doubt  vanished  away. 

This  was  the  conversion  of  Augustine.  It  happened  on 
tlie  third  of  ^lay,  in  his  thirty-second  year;  and  the  Catholic 
Church  has  a  festival  to  commemorate  this  event.  Well 
may  it  be  remendjered  !  Many  great  events  occurred  dur- 
ing tliat  century.     It  saw,  at  its  commencement,  the  last 


134          EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

great  persecution  of  the  Christians,  under  the  Emperor 
Diocletian;  it  saw  this  persecuted  religion  ascend  the 
throne  of  the  Cciesars  with  Constantine ;  it  saw  the  new 
capital  of  the  Eastern  empire  founded  at  Constantinople ; 
it  witnessed  the  violent  conflicts  concerning  the  Trinity, 
and  the  alternate  triumph  and  defeat  of  the  Arians  and 
their  opponents.  The  Eastern  and  Western  Empires  were 
divided  in  this  period ;  the  Apostate  Julian  rose  and 
reigned,  and  exerted  in  vain  all  the  resources  of  his  genius 
and  power  to  check  the  progress  of  Christianity.  In  this 
century  there  collected  along  the  northern  borders  of  the 
empire  those  clouds  of  barbarous  nations,  the  Goths  and 
Yandals,  destined  to  sweep  over  the  ancient  lloman  Empire 
in  a  storm  of  conquest;  and  then  arrived  on  tlie  eastern 
frontiers  that  mysterious  and  infinite  multitude  of  Huns, 
who  had  journeyed  from  the  extreme  eastern  shore  of  Asia 
to  share  in  the  ruin  of  this  doomed  empire.  Two  hundred 
years  before  Christ  they  had  invaded  China,  and  nearly 
destroyed  the  Chinese  nation  ;  and  four  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  Christ  tliey  poured  their  irresistible  squadrons 
over  the  fields  of  Italy.  This  century,  which  had  com- 
menced with  a  persecution  of  the  Christians,  saw,  at  its 
close,  the  Pagan  religion  entirely  overthrown  throughout 
the  empire,  —  its  temples  demolished,  its  worship  prohib- 
ited, and  its  last  remains  forever  extinguished.  And  yet, 
witnessing  these  great  events,  it  saw  nothing  greater,  in 
its  influence  on  the  world,  than  the  mysterious  change 
which  took  place  in  the  direction  of  a  single  soul  in  that 
small  garden  in  Milan.  At  tliat  very  hour  Ambrose  was 
humbling  the  pride  of  the  Eoman  emperor,  and  compelling 
him  to  submit  to  the  power  of  a  Christian  bishop;  but 
this  was  a  triumph  far  inferior  to  the  conquest  of  a  soul 
like  tliat  of  Augustine.  This  conversion  gave  a  teacher 
to   the    Christian   church  who  has  directed   its   thoughts 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND    BERNARD.  135 

for  fifteen  hundred  years,  and  wliose  ideas  still  rule  our 
theology  with  an  ahnost  despotic  sway.  The  greatest 
lights  of  the  church,  Catholic  aud  Protestant,  have  gone 
to  him  for  instruction. 

"  Hither,  as  to  tlioir  fountain,  other  stars 
Repairing,  in  their  golden  urns  draw  hght." 

Peter  Lombard,  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  other  great  Cath- 
olic doctors  quote  Augustine  as  authority  for  their  views, 
exactly  as  they  quote  the  Bible.  Luther  and  Calvin, 
rejecting  all  other  authority  in  the  Poman  Church,  con- 
tinued to  follow  Augustine  as  their  guide  in  theology ; 
and  their  leading  doctrines  are  identical  with  his.  His 
soul  of  llame,  and  keen  intellect,  have  ruled  the  minds 
of  men  with  an  intellectual  despotism  never  equalled 
in  this  world.  We  ask  whetlier  the  sons  of  Africa 
can  ever  l)e  elevated  to  our  level ;  and  behold !  an 
African  intellect  is  the  ruler,  almost  to  our  own  time, 
of  Christendom ! 

We  here  leave  the  "  Confessions,"  of  which  there  are 
five  more  books;  which,  however,  do  not  refer  to  tlie 
events  of  his  life.  He  returned  to  Africa  after  havini^ 
been  baptized  by  Ambrose,  A.D.  387.  He  renounced  his 
occupation  as  a  teacher  of  rhetoric,  and  devoted  himself  to 
Christianity.  From  this  time  he  broke  away  from  his  evil 
liabits  and  lived  a  life  of  purity  and  self-denial.  Ordained 
]»rie.st  in  389,  he  was  chosen  coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of 
Hippo  in  395.  The  rest  of  his  life  was  occupied  in  tlie 
(hities  of  his  office ;  in  study ;  in  writing  the  works  which 
liave  had  such  influence;  in  controversies  with  the  Mani- 
clieans,  the  Donatists,  and  Pelagians ;  and  in  founding 
monastic  institutions.  In  the  year  of  Christ  430  the  city 
of  Hippo  was  besieged  by  the  Vandals,  who  overran  Africa 
i'kc  a  plague  of  locusts.     Augustine  remained  among  his 


136         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

people,  refusing  to  abandon  his  post,  and  died  in  the  third 
month  of  the  siege,  seventy-six  years  old. 

§  5.  The  Doctrine  of  Augustine.  —  The  influence  which 
Augustine  has  exercised  comes  from  the  fact  that  he  gave 
the  religious  life  of  his  time  a  new  direction,  which  it  has 
retained  to  our  own  day.  Theology  had  been  occupied  till 
his  era  with  speculations  concerning  the  nature  of  God, 
and  the  person  of  Christ,  —  speculative  and  transcendental 
questions  outside  of  personal  experience.  Augustine  led 
the  way  in  making  Christianity  a  matter  of  individual  sal- 
vation, of  each  man's  private  relation  to  God.  His  leading 
doctrine  was  the  Sovereignty  of  God ;  and  with  that,  the 
utter  Inability  of  Man.  God  is  everything,  man  is  noth- 
ing ;  but  man,  when  he  submits  to  God,  becomes  himself 
everything.  The  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  created 
the  sense  of  dependence  in  man.  This  gave  a  direction  to 
Christian  belief  and  experience  which  has  not  since  been 
lost.  It  was  repeated,  in  still  stronger  forms,  by  Luther 
and  Calvin.  It  was  emphasized  by  Puritanism  in  England 
and  America.  It  involved  the  doctrine  of  absolute  Pre- 
destination and  Election.  It  left  man  helpless  and  hope- 
less without  God  and  God's  grace.  It  has  had  great  results 
for  good  and  evil,  producing  a  very  strong  religion,  though 
a  hard  one.  Now  that  this  long  reign  of  Augustine  is 
passing  away  we  may  recognize  its  merits,  while  we  are 
not  unwilling  to  have  it  gone ;  for  we  may  believe  that  all 
that  is  good  and  true  in  it  will  be  kept,  and  fulfilled  in 
somethimj  hi2:her  and  better. 

This  doctrine  of  Augustine  was  developed  during  his 
controversy  with  Pelagius,  but  it  came  from  the  depths  of 
his  own  experience.  He  had  been  led  by  his  own  sense 
of  sin  to  cling  to  God  for  pardon  and  rescue.  His  power- 
ful soul,  uniting  the  fire  of  Africa  with  the  deeper  thought 
of  Europe,  knew  no  rest  till  it  had  brought  into  clear  con- 


AUGUSTINE,    ANSELM,    AND    BERNARD.  137 

sciousness  its  own  most  profuuiid  experience.  Hence  the 
power  of  his  teaching  on  all  these  centuries. 

The  world  in  the  time  of  Angustine  was  tired  of  abstract 
speculation.  In  the  controversies  of  tlie  East  over  the 
nature  and  person  of  Christ,  thought  had  gone  extraordi- 
nary lengths  in  defining  the  nature  of  the  Deity.  At  last, 
after  many  oscillations  from  the  Atlianasian  to  the  Arian 
creed,  and  from  Tritheism  to  Sabellianism,  it  had  settled 
into  the  .view  which  has  remained  orthodox  to  this  day, 
namely :  that  the  true  Trinity  is  a  mystery  somewhere 
between  these  o])posite  extremes.  We  must  say  there  is 
One  God;  we  must  say  he  is  in  Three  Persons;  but  we 
nuist  say  it  so  as  not  to  divide  the  substance,  and  not  to 
confound  the  distinctions.  We  must  not  be  Arians ;  we 
must  not  be  Tritheists  ;  we  must  not  be  Sabellians,  nor 
Nestorians,  nor  Eutychians,  nor  Monophysitej,  nor  Mono- 
thelites.  Home-bound  thought,  tired  of  wandering  around 
the  world,  ran  its  bark  ashore,  and  said :  "  I  will  reason 
no  more  about  it ;  let  tliis  stand  hereafter  as  the  orthodox 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity." 

Speculative  theology  in  regard  to  the  Deity  being  thus 
settled,  it  remained  to  determine  what  man  was  to  do  and  be 
in  order  to  become  a  Christian.  And  here  lay  two  rocks, 
one  on  either  shore,  each  dangerous  to  the  navigator.  What 
was  needed  that  men  might  become  Christians  was  seen  to 
be  this,  —  to  have  aroused  within  them  the  two  antagonist 
principles  of  accountability  and  dependence.  Conscience 
must  be  awakened  on  the  one  side,  faith  on  the  other.  lUit 
if  you  lay  too  much  stress  on  accountability,  and  tell  men 
it  is  their  duty  to  go  to  work,  you  are  in  danger  of  weaken- 
ing their  sense  of  dependence.  They  may  feel  that  they 
are  to  work  in  their  own  strength,  as  free  agents,  alone. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  you  tell  them  to  trust  entirely  in 
God  and  lean  on  him,  they  are  in  danger  of  ceasing  from 


138         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

all  effort,  and  waiting  till  God  shall  make  them  what  they 
ought  to  be. 

Augustine  met  this  difficulty  by  his  doctrine  of  Original 
Sin.  "  You  are  responsible  by  being  guilty,"  he  says. 
"You  are  born  guilty  of  the  sin  of  Adam,  your  federal 
head.  .  .  .  You  have  no  power  to  do  anything  good  or  right 
or  pleasing  to  God,  so  you  must  cast  yourselves  wholly 
on  him  for  pardon  and  salvation."  Sin,  thus  conceived  of, 
is  something  not  proceeding  from  the  will  at  all.  It  is  a 
corruption  of  the  nature.  It  is  not  so  much  guilt  as  dis- 
ease. As  the  sick  man  puts  himself  wholly  into  the  hands 
of  his  physician,  so  the  sinner,  to  be  cured  of  his  deadly 
sickness,  must  put  himself  absolutely  into  the  hands  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  Church,  the  servant  and  agent  of  Christ. 
Eeligion  thus  becomes  submission,  reliance,  faith,  self-sur- 
render, humility,  abnegation,  self-mortification.  It  hum- 
bles the  pride  of  man ;  it  casts  down  his  vanity  and 
self-conceit,  and  makes  him  lowly  and  meek.  It  promotes 
the  habit  of  prayer.  It  associates  itself  easily  with  a  high 
view  of  the  authority  of  the  Church  and  reverence  for  the 
priesthood;  of  the  duty  of- believing  what  we  are  told  con- 
cerning the  sin  of  heresy  and  the  danger  of  free  thought. 
It  makes  of  Christianity  a  medicine  to  heal  a  sick  man 
rather  than  food  by  which  the  well  man  is  to  be  kept  in 
health.  Eeligion,  according  to  this  system,  is  not  growth 
but  recovery. 

Is  it  not  evident,  from  this  statement,  that  this  Augus- 
tinian  theology  has  given  the  tone  to  the  Christianity 
of  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  churches,  down  to  this 
hour  ?  It  has  caused  us  to  regard  God  as  an  absolute 
King  to  whom  we  must  submit  without  question,  even  if 
we  deny  every  instinct  of  mind  and  heart,  —  not  because 
his  commands  are  "holy,  just,  and  good,"  but  because  he  is 
Almighty  and  because  we  are  wholly  sinful. 


AUGUSTINE,  AXSELM,  AND  BERNARD.        139 

Luther  and  Calvin  both  accepted  llie  theology  of  Augus- 
tine in  all  its  rigor,  and  in  fact  used  it  as  an  argument 
against  the  Church  of  Konie.  As  an  army  in  storming  a 
city  gets  possession  of  a  bastion,  and  then  turns  its  guns 
inward  against  the  place  itself,  —  so  Luther  and  Calvin 
turned  the  artillery  of  this  great  Roman  Doctor  and  Saint 
against  Home.  While  tliey  dropped  his  sacramental  views, 
they  strengthened  and  sharpened  his  opinions  concerning 
sin  and  redemption. 

It  is  good  to  be  humble  and  modest ;  it  is  good  to  be 
aware  of  our  own  sinfulness.  It  is  no  doubt  true  that  sin 
is  not  only  guilt  but  also  inherited  disease.  So  far  the 
influence  of  this  theology  has  been  good.  lUit  it  has  also 
Ijecn  bad,  —  in  discouraging  human  effort,  in  teaching  men 
to  regard  God  as  an  arbitrary  Deing,  in  causing  religion 
to  assume  a  sad  and  gloomy  tone,  and  disparaging  human 
nature  in  the  suj^posed  interests  of  piety. 

§  6.  A(/e  of  Augustine.  Character  and  Permanence  of 
his  Influence.  — The  age  of  Augustine  was  one  of  extremes. 
While  some  Christians  were  tormenting  and  denying  them- 
selves, others  were  giving  themselves  up  to  self-indulgence. 
Damasus  (A.I).  366)  obtained  the  bishoj)ric  of  Home  by  a 
battle  in  which,  according  even  to  Jerome  his  friend,  the 
most  cruel  nnuders  were  inflicted  on  men  and  women. 
Damasus  marched  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  clergy,  grave- 
diggers,  charioteers,  and  hired  gladiators,  to  the  Church  of 
Santa  ^laria  Maggiore,  where  the  election  was  held, — 
burst  the  doors  of  the  basilica,  and  took  the  tiles  from  the 
roof.  Having  thus  l)roken  in,  he  attacked  his  opponents, 
of  whom  the  dead  bodies  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  were 
afterward  found  on  tlie  pavement.  Having  thus  obtained 
the  post  of  liishop  of  Rome,  his  sumptuous  entertain- 
ments, splendid  chariots,  and  rich  robes  outshone  those  of 
the  Emperor  himself. 


140         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

To  heighten  these  contrasts,  there  were  here  and  there  seen 
extraordinary  examples  of  genuine  Christian  heroism,  an(i 
fidelity  to  Christian  duty.  Ambrose,  Archbisliop  of  Milan, 
of  a  noble  Eoman  family,  was  a  civil  officer,  and  had  not 
even  been  baptized  when  he  was  chosen  arclibishop  by  accla- 
mation, the  whole  community  demanding  his  election  with 
such  unanimity  that  the  reluctant  magistrate  (says  Gibbon) 
was  compelled  to  accept  a  situation  for  which  he  was  wholly 
unprepared  by  any  previous  experience.  He  devoted  him- 
self to  his  duties,  gave  away  his  private  fortune,  lived 
modestly,  and  sold  the  consecrated  plate  of  the  church  to 
redeem  captives  from  slavery.  He  resisted  the  orders  of 
the  Empress  when  asked  to  violate  liis  convictions  ;  lie 
met  the  invading  Goths  at  the  door  of  his  church,  and  by 
his  imposing  presence  restrained  tlieir  fury ;  but  his  bravest 
act  was  his  conduct  toward  the  orthodox  Emperor  Tlieo- 
dosius,  who,  in  liis  indignation  at  a  brutal  murder  of  one  of 
his  generals  by  some  citizens  of  Tliessalonica,  ordered  an 
indiscriminate  massacre  of  tlie  people  in  the  city.  When 
Ambrose  heard  of  it  he  refused  to  allow  the  Emperor  to 
enter  the  church  or  to  partake  of  the  sacrament  until  he 
had  done  penance  during  eight  months;  for  with  him  there 
was  but  one  Christian  law,  for  the  king  and  the  slave. 

During  the  life  of  Augustine  occurred  the  destruction 
and  final  extinction  of  Paganism ;  the  entrance  of  the 
Goths  into  the  empire,  and  their  destructive  ravages;  the 
downfall  of  Arianism  ;  tlie  division  of  the  Empire  between 
Arcadius  and  Honorius ;  the  invasion  of  Hungary  by  the 
Huns,  of  Gaul  by  the  Visigoths,  of  Cpain  and  Africa  by 
the  Vandals ;  and  the  siei]^e  and  sack  of  Eome  by  Alaric. 
This  last  event  gave  a  shock  to  the  civilized  world.  It 
seemed  as  if  chaos  were  returning  again,  when  the  stately 
city  which  had  subdued  and  civilized  half  the  earth  and 
had  never  been  entered  by  an  enemy  since  its  foundation, 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND   BHIiNAlM).  141 

eleven  hundred  and  sixty-three  years  earlier,  fell  before 
the  fury  of  the  jjarharians  who  were  sweepiiii;  all  culture 
and  religion  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  lUit  evun  in  lliat 
hour  of  terror,  when  at  midnight  the  awful  Gotliic  trumpet 
sounded  in  the  streets  of  lionie,  the  Arian  (Joths  showed 
more  compassion  and  more  sense  of  religion  than  the 
Koman  Catholic  soldiers  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  when  they 
sacked  the  city  of  their  own  Tope  eleven  hundred  years 
afterward. 

The  power  of  Aiigusiiiu!  was  in  his  theology.  He  estab- 
lished a  system  of  theology  which  has  ruled  the  Christian 
Church  from  his  time  to  the  present.  He  laid  the  founda- 
tion and  erected  the  temple  of  Western,  or  Latin  orthodoxy, 
which  has  remained  the  orthodoxy  of  the  Catholic  and 
Trotestant  churches  and  creeds  till  now.  Of  his  three 
great  contemporaries  —  Chrysostom,  the  "golden-mouthed 
orator,"  ruled  b}'  his  eloquence,  Ambrose  by  his  character, 
and  Jerome  by  his  learning.  Ihit  the  power  of  eloquence, 
though  it  may  astonish  the  world  for  a  day,  is  fugitive. 
It  is  like  the  lightning,  whose  blaze  makes  the  sunlight 
dim  for  a  single  moment,  and  then  disappears.  Knowledge 
has  a  more  permanent  influence,  but  it  is  limited  in  its 
range.  It  is  like  the  fire  of  Prometheus,  stolen  at  first 
from  Heaven,  and  then  treasured  in  a  multitude  of  homes 
and  warming  y)rivate  hearths  with  its  kindly  heat.  But 
we  may  comj)are  the  influence  of  a  great  Ins])iration  like 
that  of  Augustine,  which  gives  new  life  to  men,  to  that  of 
the  solar  heat,  which  is  everywhere  diffused  and  enters 
into  all  growth.  There  is  not  a  little  Baptist  or  Methodist 
church  to-day  in  Kansas  or  Montana,  not  a  Catholic  priest 
in  Japan  or  Brazil,  not  a  Scotch  farmer  or  English  con- 
servative statesman,  but  is  more  or  less  influenced  by  this 
African  bishop.  He  has  held  the  reins  and  guided  the 
progress  of  the  Christian  Church  during  fifteen  hundred 


142  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

years.  Carthage,  conquered  and  destroyed  by  Rome,  recon- 
quered and  governed  it  by  the  ardent  mind  of  this  Christ- 
ian thinker.  To  those  who  think  that  theology  is  empty 
speculation,  no  longer  inliuencing  men,  a  study  of  the 
life  and  work  of  Augustine  may  teach  a  dif["erent  lesson. 
Immense  good  or  evil  comes  from  the  view  of  God,  ot 
Christ,  of  man,  whicli  is  taken  by  Christian  teachers  and 
Christian  communities.  Tlieology  is  the  body  of  which 
faitli  is  the  soul.  We  may  say  of  theology  what  Paul 
says  of  the  earthly  body :  "  We  would  not  be  unclothed 
but  clothed  upon,  that  mortality  may  be  swallowed  up  of 
life."  We  must  have  some  theolog}^ ;  let  us  have  a  true, 
large,  generous,  manly,  liberal  theology.  The  great  and 
deep-rooted  system  of  Augustine  will  be  fultilled  in  some- 
thing still  deeper,  higher,  nobler,  and  purer ;  and  the  Saint 
of  Africa,  from  his  seat  in  Heaven,  will  no  doubt  joyfully 
welcome  that  better  theology  which  shall  forever  replace 
his  own. 

§  7.  Ansdm.  Character  of  tJie  Eleventh  Century.  —  We 
will  now  speak  of  Anselni.  His  life,  like  that  of  Augustine, 
was  one  of  those  which  make  epochs.  It  belonged  mostly 
to  the  eleventh  century.  Born  1033,  in  Piedmont,  he  died 
1109,  in  England.  His  century  saw  the  Pope  become 
master  of  Europe  in  the  person  of  Hildebrand,  to  which 
event  Anselm  contributed  his  full  part.  It  saw  the  Greek 
Church  sexmrated  from  the  Western.  With  Anselm  com- 
menced the  Scholastic  Period.  During  his  life  William 
the  Conqueror,  made  England  a  province  of  Normandy  ; 
the  Crusades  began;  Gothic  architecture  had  its  origin ;  the 
Northmen  founded  republics  in  Italy ;  and  the  Cid  began 
to  drive  the  Moors  from  Spain.  The  eleventh  century 
was  a  period  of  beginnings.  Then  began  scholasticism,  the 
Papal  supremacy,  the  Mediaeval  architecture,  the  Engl  is' 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND   nERNAnP.  143 

ami  Spanish  nations ;  and  the  unity  uf  Modern  Europe 
by  means  of  the  Crusades.  It  was  a  time  for  sowing 
seeds,  —  the  seeds  of  modern  liistory.  It  was  a  dark  age, 
tlie  gloomiest  of  all  the  Dark  Ages  perliajis ;  hut  seeds 
grow  best  in  darkness.  Anselm,  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent men  of  his  period,  was  connected  with  most  of  tliese 
great  events,  and  himself  a  sower  of  seeds  which  have 
borne  fruit,  good  and  evil,  during  long  centuries.  He 
was  an  lUilian,  but  an  Englishman  too ;  a  monk  and  a 
politician;  a  metaphysical  thinker  of  the  first  order;  and 
a  sagacious  leader  in  the  war  between  tlie  Komish  Churcli 
and  the  tyrannical  feudal  lords  of  Europe. 

Anselm  was  born  about  A.D.  1033,  in  the  valley  of 
Aosta,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Po,  in  the  extreme  north- 
west of  Italy,  just  south  of  the  great  range  of  Mt.  Blanc. 
He  was  of  a  noble  family,  and  a  house  still  stands  in 
Aosta,  rebuilt  in  1515,  wliich,  according  to  an  ancient 
inscription,  was  that  in  which  lie  was  born.  Brought  uj) 
by  a  pious  mother,  Ermenberge,  he  at  the  age  of  lifleen 
wished  to  become  a  monk,  which  was  then  considered  to 
be  the  only  sure  way  of  saving  one's  soul.  Being  resisted 
in  this  wish  he  fell  away  for  a  while  into  a  course  of  pleas- 
ure and  idleness,  which  brought  on  him  the  anger  of  Iiis 
father ;  so  that,  at  last,  leaving  his  home,  he  crossed  Mt. 
Cenis  on  loot,  with  a  single  companion,  and,  passing 
through  Burgundy,  arrived  in  Normandy,  and  soon  en- 
tered the  monastery  of  Bee,  south  of  Rouen.  Tliis  monas- 
tery liad  recently  been  founded  by  Herluin,  a  Norman 
nobleman,  who,  after  liaving  been  a  distinguished  ca])tain, 
renounced  the  world  and  wished  to  enter  a  convent.  Erom 
the  door  of  one  he  was  driven  as  a  tliief;  at  another  he 
saw  a  procession  of  monks  in  rich  dresses  noisily  laugliing 
and  talking  in  a  way  that  disturbed  his  simple  faitli  in 
their  holiness,     lleassured  by  a  dream,  he  built  a  church 


144  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

and  founded  a  convent  at  Bee,  of  which  he  was  made 
abbot.  Sensible  of  his  defects  as  a  scholar,  he  happily 
obtained  for  liis  prior  Lanfranc,  who  had  been  distin- 
guished as  a  scholar  and  lawyer  in  Italy,  and  who  came 
into  France  to  seek  his  fortune.  France  in  the  eleventh 
century  was  pretty  equally  divided  between  the  feudal 
nobles,  who  were  engaged  in  perpetual  wars ;  the  peasants, 
or  serfs,  little  better  than  slaves ;  the  wild  beasts,  who 
had  immense  tracts  of  forest  to  themselves,  the  possession 
of  which  was  only  disputed  by  bands  of  soldiers  turned 
robbers ;  and  the  monasteries,  scattered  here  and  there,  as 
"  cities  of  refuge  "  for  those  who  had  grown  tired  of  the 
brutal  pleasures  and  savage  cruelties  of  the  world.  Lan- 
franc,  in  his  search  for  a  position,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
robbers,  escaping  from  whom  he  somehow  found  his  way 
to  the  convent  of  Bee,  which  Herluin  was  trying  to  estab- 
lish. He  quickly  decided  to  become  a  monk,  and  was 
accepted  after  a  severe  novitiate,  which  he  bore  humbly 
and  patiently.  He  even  consented  to  mispronounce  his 
Latin,  by  direction  of  his  German  superiors,  whose  ears 
were  unused  to  the  Italian  methods.  Being  reproved  for 
saying  do-ce-re  he  pronounced  it  doc-e-re,  esteeming  diso- 
bedience worse  than  a  false  quantity. 

The  way  in  which  Lanfranc  came  to  be  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  was  peculiar.  It  was  by  quarrelling  with 
William,  Duke  of  Normandy,  the  very  man  who  ai'terward 
appointed  him  to  that  office.  Called  to  give  his  opinion 
on  the  legality  of  the  marriage  of  William  with  his  cousin 
Matilda,  he  was  obliged  by  the  canon  law  to  condemn 
it,  and  the  angry  Duke  banished  him  from  his  estates. 
Lanfranc  obeyed,  taking  the  only  liorse  in  the  convent 
stables,  which  was  lame,  and  contrived  to  travel  on  a  road 
wherein  he  met  the  terrible  Duke,  and  stopped  before  him. 
"  What  do  you  want  ? "  said  the  Duke  angrily.     "I  want 


AUGUSTINE,    ANSELM,    AND    BERNARD.  145 

you  to  give  me  a  better  liorso,  so  that  I  can  obey  your 
orders  more  promptly."  The  Duke  hiughed,  and  sent  liini 
back  to  liis  convent,  where  tliey  ehanted  Te  Bcuui.  The 
Pope  having  ])laced  the  dukedom  under  an  interdict  on 
account  of  this  marriaij;e,  LaniVanc  went  to  liunie,  at  th(; 
Duke's  request,  to  plead  his  cause,  and  succeeded  in  get- 
tinjj-  the  marriai^e  le<^alized  on  condition  that  the  Duke 
and  Duchess  should  each  found  a  convent,  —  one  of  monks, 
and  the  other  of  nuns,  —  which  was  done. 

When  William  of  Normandy  conquered  England,  he 
displaced  the  JSaxon  patriot  Stigand,  then  Archbi.shop 
of  Canterbury,  and  brought  over  the  Norman  prior  Lan- 
franc  to  take  his  ]>lai'e.  Lanfranc  was  famous  as  a  teacher, 
having  opened  a  school  in  the  convent,  which  attracted 
scholars  from  all  quarters.  Among  tlie  rest  our  Anselm, 
who  became  a  monk  in  lOGO,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven. 

Lanfranc  was  the  chief  opponent  of  Berengarius,  or 
Berenger,  who  was  accused  of  heresy  for  denying  that  the 
bread  and  wine  became  in  the  eucharist  the  real  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  l^erenger  admitted  tliat  Christ  was  pres- 
ent in  the  eucharist,  but  maintained  that  the  bread  and 
wine  were  only  symbols  and  figures  of  his  body  and  blood. 
Berenger,  Lanfranc,  and  Anselm  were  the  three  great  schol- 
ars of  their  day,  and  tlie  restorers  of  logical  and  metaphysi- 
cal studies  in  Europe.  The  doctrine  of  Berenger  was 
condemned  by  six  different  councils.  He  retracted  his 
opinion  five  times,  and  five  times  reasserted  it  as  soon  as 
he  got  out  of  reach  of  his  enemies.  He  fortunately  had  a 
friend  in  the  great  Hildel)rand,  who  protected  him  as  far 
as  he  was  able,  and  finally  forbade  any  one  from  troubling 
I'erenger  further  about  his  oi»inions.  Ilildebrand  declared 
that  he  had  consulted  the  Virgin  IMary,  who  had  told  him 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  simple  words  of  Scripture  which 

10 


146  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

Berenger  willingly  accepted ;  so  that  Hildebrand  dismissed 
him  with  this  letter :  — 

''To  all  the  Faithful  in  St.  Peter. 

"  Be  it  known  to  you  all  that  we  pronounce  our  anathema  on 
all  who  shall  presume  to  do  any  harm  to  Berenger,  a  son  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  or  who  shall  call  him  a  heretic.  Him  we 
now  send  home,  he  having  passed  many  days  with  us  at  our 
request," 

So  Berenger  w^ent  back  to  his  home  in  Tours,  where  he 
died,  —  having  had  the  last  word,  and  the  pleasure  of  still 
maintaining  his  opinion  that  the  bread  and  wine  were  not 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  a  solitary  example,  in  those 
days,  of  a  heretic  dying  in  the  odor  of  sanctity,  and  so  much 
beloved  that  a  yearly  festival  was  held  over  his  grave. 
But  Dominic  and  the  Inquisition  had  not  yet  come. 

§  8.  Anselm's  Religious  Meditations  and  Prayers.  His 
Work  and  Study  in  the  convent.  —  While  at  Bee,  Anselm 
devoted  himself  to  study,  and  to  the  practices  of  piety. 
He  had  frequent  visions  and  supernatural  experiences ; 
which  were  so  common  in  those  days  as  to  almost  cease  to 
be  supernatural,  and  to  become  natural.  One  night  he  lay 
awake  trying  to  understand  how  tlie  prophets  could  fore- 
see the  future ;  when,  through  the  walls  of  his  cell,  which 
suddenly  became  transparent,  he  beheld  the  monks  in  the 
church  arranging  the  altar,  lighting  the  candles,  and  doing 
their  other  work.  Then  he  reflected  that  God  might  make 
the  prophets  able  to  look  into  the  future  and  see  what  was 
happening  there,  just  as  he  had  been  able  to  look  into 
the  chapel ;  "  concluding  from  a  vision  through  space  to  a 
vision  through  time." 

Anselm  has  left  meditations  and  prayers,  which  are  full 
of  a  warm  piety.  I  have  a  little  book,  printed  in  1607, 
containing   the   Latin   prayers  and   meditations  of  these 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND   BEimARD.  147 

three  Eoman  saints,  —  Augustine,  Anselni,  and  Bernard. 
I  find  them  full  of  solid  and  sweet  i)iety  ;  and  1  often 
take  this  little  volume  in  ni\  pocket,  and  l<H)k  into  it  as  I 
ride  or  walk.  Here  is  a  part  of  the  iirst  meditation  of 
Auselm  :  — 

"0  Lord  my  God,  grant  to  my  lieart  to  desire  thee  ;  by  de- 
siring, to  seek  thee  ;  by  seeking,  to  hud  thee  ;  by  finding,  to 
love  thee  ;  by  loving  thee,  to  be  redeemed  from  my  sins ;  and 
by  being  redeemed  from  my  sins,  not  to  repeat  them  again. 
Give,  O  Lord  my  God,  penitence  to  my  heart,  contrition  to  my 
spirit,  a  foimtuin  of  tears  to  my  eyes,  bounty  to  my  liands.  O 
my  King,  drown  in  me  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  and  inflame  the 
fervor  of  thy  love.  O  my  Ilcdcemer,  drive  from  me  the  spirit 
of  j)ride,  and  propitiously  bestow  the  treasure  of  divine  hu- 
mility. Savior !  Remove  the  rage  of  anger  and  instil  the  sense 
of  patience.  O  my  Creator,  take  away  my  rancor  of  soul,  and 
largely  bestow  serenity  of  mind.  Father  of  all  mercy,  grant  to 
me  a  solid  faith,  an  eifective  hope,  and  a  perfect  charity." 

One  young  monk  named  Osborne  was  jealous  of  the 
rapid  promotion  of  Anselm,  and  showed  to  him  an  evil 
and  unkind  humor;  but  Anselni  seemed  not  to  notice  it, 
bore  with  his  bad  temper,  ])raised  him  for  his  gocjd  actions, 
granted  him  many  favors,  and  so  gradually  won  his  heart. 
Then  Anselni  grew  more  stern,  and  with  austere  love 
taught  him  to  endure  hardships,  and  even  inflicted  chas- 
tisement upon  him  with  rods, — so  severe  was  conventual 
discipline.  The  disciple  bore  it  all  patiently,  and  became 
as  docile  as  he  had  before  been  otherwise ;  but  before  loner 
be  was  attacked  with  a  fatal  disease,  and  died  in  the  arms 
oi"  Anselm.  Tie  ])romised  to  return  after  death,  if  ]»er- 
mitti'd,  to  reveal  to  Anselm  his  destiny.  This  promise 
was  fullilled  in  a  dream,  in  which  Anselm  saw  three 
majestic  figures  approach  and  sit  around  the  body  of 
Osborne  as  if  to  judge  him.     The   judgment  being  pro- 


148  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

nounced,  Osborne  himself  seemed  to  rise,  and  coming  to 
Anselm  said :  "  Tliree  times  the  old  serpent  attacked  me, 
but  three  times  the  angels  delivered  me."  Anselm  awoke, 
and  concluded  from  this  dream  that  his  friend  was  safe,  yet 
thought  it  best  to  perform  a  daily  mass  for  the  repose  of 
his  soul ;  which  was  done  as  long  as  Anselm  lived,  either 
by  himself  or  another. 

The  devils,  it  is  reported,  hated  Anselm  much,  which  was 
greatly  to  his  honor ;  for,  next  to  the  love  of  the  generous 
and  good,  a  man  is  honored  by  the  dislike  of  the  narrow- 
minded  and  hard-hearted.  A  Norman  soldier  named 
Cadul  had  been  converted  by  Anselm,  and  was  saying  his 
prayers  in  the  church.  A  devil  came,  disguised  as  his 
squire,  to  tell  him  that  thieves  were  stealing  his  horses ; 
but  the  good  soldier  went  on  with  his  prayer.  Then  an- 
other devil,  in  the  form  of  a  bear,  fell  on  the  pavement  at 
his  side ;  but  the  soldier  prayed  on  as  before.  After  he 
left  the  church,  on  his  way  to  see  Anselm,  the  devil  came 
in  the  form  of  a  friend  and  said  :  "  Cadul !  do  not  go  near 
that  man ;  he  is  no  saint,  but  a  hypocrite."  But  the  sol- 
dier made  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  tlie  devil  flew  away ; 
and  Cadul  became  a  monk. 

Anselm  spent  some  of  his  leisure  in  copying  manu- 
scripts. They  were  rare  enough  then  among  the  Gauls. 
Two  convents  exchanged  some  books  as  a  sign  of  friend- 
ship. "  Take,"  said  one  of  the  abbots,  "  any  book  you 
please  from  our  library  ;  but  give  us,  if  you  have  them,  tlie 
Epistles  of  Saint  Paul." 

One  day  an  abbot  talked  with  Anselm  of  the  obstinacy 
of  the  children  at  his  convent-school,  wdiom  he  could  not 
control  even  by  the  severest  punishments.  ''We  beat 
them  night  and  day,"  said  lie ;  "  but  they  grow  worse  con- 
tinually." "  You  beat  them,"  said  Anselm  ;  "  and  what  do 
they  become  when  they  grow  up  ?  "     "  Stupid  and  brutal," 


AUGUSTINK,    ANSELM,    AND    BERNARD.  149 

replied  the  iibhot.  "  Wluit  sliouM  you  think,"  said  Au- 
selin,  "if  a  man  planteil  a  tree  and  then  tied  its  branches 
togethi!!'  so  that  they  coidd  not  expand,  and  ])ut  its  roots 
lietvveen  roL'ks  so  that  they  coidd  not  rainily?  Children's 
minds  need  to  expand,  and  ynii  subject  them  to  such  rude 
constraint  that  their  thoughts  accumulate  in  their  bosoms 
and  turn  bitter.  You  beat  them,  and  ho})e  to  help  them 
so ;  but  an  artist  cannot  make  a  golilen  statue  merely  by 
l)eating  it:  he  must  form  it  by  careful  touches."  So,  at 
last,  the  abbot  promised  to  abandon  the  rod  and  try  milder 
measures.  Anselm  has  lain  in  his  grave  more  than  seven 
centuries ;  but  we  have  n(jt  wholly  learned  that  education 
does  not  mean  to  consti-ain  and  re])ress  by  fear,  but  rather 
to  incite  and  develop  by  hope  and  affection. 

§  9.  Ansdm  as  Ajxhbishop  of  Canterhury.  His  Conflict 
with  the  Ki)hf),  his  Exile,  and  Return.  —  After  Lanfranc's 
])roraotion  Anselm  became  Prior  of  Bee,  and  devoted  his 
time  to  study,  meditation,  and  prayer.  He  also  copied 
b(^(jks  for  his  library.  He  was  fond  of  mystical  theology 
and  metaphysics.  When  Lanfranc  died  he  was  summoned 
to  England  to  take  his  place  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
IL-re  he  was  brought  into  conflict  with  the  \d\vj^,  William 
llufus,  who  plundered  Church  and  State  with  great  impar- 
tiality. The  King  insisted  on  his  right  to  appoint  the 
bishops.  Hildel)rand  declared  that  no  bishop  so  appointed 
could  exercise  his  office  till  he  had  been  to  Rome  to  receive 
the  i)allium,  or  bisliop's  cloak.  In  other  words,  the  Pope 
claimed  the  right  of  a  veto  on  all  appointments.  Pietween 
the  King  and  the  Pope,  Anselm  was  like  the  iron  between 
the  hammer  and  the  anvil.  He  was  banished  twice,  and 
twice  returned. 

Anselm  had  obstinately  refused  to  accept  the  office  of 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  as  long  as  possible,  foreseeing 
the  war  which  would  ensue  between  himself  and  the  King. 


150         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTOKY. 

William  Eufus  was  a  true  tyrant.  He  had  spoiled  the 
Church  and  State  by  systematic  robbery,  and  repented  and 
made  restitution  when  thinking  himself  about  to  die ;  but 
repented  of  his  repentance  and  took  back  his  plunder  as 
soon  as  he  was  well  again. 

The  fears  of  Anselm  were  well  founded,  and  his  reluc- 
tance to  accept  the  bishopric  was  a  proof  of  his  sagacity 
and  good  sense.  His  life  from  that  time  forward  was  a 
constant  scene  of  warfare.  "  Fighting  with  wild  beasts  at 
Ephesus  "  was  nothing  to  his  struggle  with  these  fierce 
Norman  soldiers,  —  greedy  for  plunder,  neither  fearing  God 
nor  man,  cunning  as  foxes,  cruel  as  serpents.  It  was  a 
battle  between  Feudalism  and  the  Church. 

According  to  Feudalism,  the  bishop  must  receive  his 
authority  from  his  duke,  and  must  do  homage  for  it  in  the 
usual  way ;  but  this  became,  in  time,  equivalent  to  the 
bishop  being  appointed  by  the  king  or  duke,  as  is  now 
done  in  England,  and  as  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of 
Anselm  himself,  who  was  appointed  by  William  Rufus  to 
the  see  of  Canterbury.  Sooner  or  later  this  would  dissolve 
the  Church  into  national  churches,  wholly  the  tools  of  the 
feudal  barons  and  monarchs,  and  the  unity  of  Christendom 
would  disappear.  Before  long,  however,  there  would  natu- 
rally come  a  sagacious,  far-seeing  pope,  who  would  put  forth 
the  whole  power  of  the  Church  to  resist  this  great  danger. 
This  pope  came  in  the  person  of  Hildebrand,  Gregoty  VII. 
The  conflict  concerning  investitures  was  the  field  of  battle 
between  the  principles  of  papacy  and  those  of  feudalism. 
Hildebrand  first  united  the  Church  by  forcing  the  priest- 
hood to  accept  the  principle  of  celibacy,  making  them  inde- 
pendent of  all  domestic  and  social  ties,  so  as  to  convert 
them  into  a  compact  army.  Then  came  the  battle  with 
the  secular  authority,  in  which  Anselm  was  the  chief  agent 
of  the  papal  power  in  England.     Long  was  the  struggle. 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND   BERNARD.  151 

Anselm  asked  to  be  permitted  to  go  to  Rome  to  receive 
the  pall,  or  Ijishop's  cloak,  from  the  Poi)e.  His  request 
was  refused.  He  then  embarked  without  leave,  and  in 
return  the  King  deposed  him,  and  seized  all  the  i)roperty 
of  his  see.  At  Rome,  Anselm  was  received  favorably  by 
the  Pope,  and  accompanied  him  to  Capua.  Anselm  pre- 
vented, by  his  remonstrances,  the  excommunication  of  the 
King,  who  rewarded  thig  service  by  bribing  the  papal 
court  to  desert  this  good  servant.  Anselm  went  to  Lyons, 
and  there  remained  until  the  death  of  William.  He  was 
invited  to  return  to  England  by  Henry  I.,  was  received 
with  joy,  but  incurred  the  royal  displeasure  by  refusing  to 
receive  the  investiture  again  from  the  royal  hands,  which 
would  have  been  acknowledging  the  legality  of  his  deposi- 
tion. The  struggle  continuing,  Anselm  w^ent  again  to 
Itome,  at  the  request  of  the  King,  as  an  ambassador  to  the 
Pope.  The  Pope  insisted  on  the  right  of  investiture. 
Anselm  returned  to  Lyons,  and  afterwards  to  his  old  con- 
vent in  Normandy,  and  there  remained  until  a  compromise 
was  effected  between  the  papacy  and  the  feudal  system ; 
the  Pope  allowing  the  bishops  and  abbots  to  do  homage  to 
the  King  for  their  temporal  possessions,  but  retaining  the 
right  of  investing  them  with  their  ecclesiastical  power. 
So  ended,  for  Anselm,  the  long  waifare.  He  returned  to 
his  diocese  in  England,  and  remained  there  till  his  death. 

§  10.  Anselm  as  Metaphysician  and  Theologian.  —  "We 
will  now  consider  Anselm  in  his  character  as  metaphysi- 
cian and  theologian.  He  has  had  the  singular  good  for- 
tune to  construct  two  theological  arguments  which  have 
been  accepted  as  sound  by  the  largest  part  of  the  Christian 
Church,  The  first  is  an  argument  for  the  existence  of 
God,  called  the  Ontological  proof;  which,  much  objected 
to  in  his  own  time,  has  been  considered  valid  by  Descartes, 
Leibnitz,  and  others. 


152    EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

It  is  addressed  to  the  ''  Fool  who  has  said  in  his  heart, 
There  is  no  God,"  and  is  in  this  form :  To  believe  in  God 
is  to  believe  in  the  most  Perfect  Being ;  a  Being,  that  is, 
so  perfect  that  none  greater  can  be  conceived.  N'ow,  when 
I  have  the  idea  in  my  mind  of  sucli  a  Perfect  Being,  it 
is  impossible  for  me  to  think  of  him  as  existing  only  in 
my  mind  and  not  in  reality,  —  for  then  he  would  not  be 
the  most  Perfect  Being ;  since  a  being  existing  not  merely 
in  thought  but  also  in  reality  is  more  perfect  than  one 
existing  in  tliought  alone.  It  is  true  that  the  conception 
of  an  object  does  not  always  imply  its  existence.  I 
can  have  in  my  mind  the  idea  of  a  giant  a  hundred 
feet  hioh,  without  beingj  oblicfed  to  believe  in  his  actual 
existence.  But  when  I  have  conceived  of  a  most  Perfect 
Beinc^,  I  must  conceive  of  him  as  existino-  ■  for  other- 
wise  he  would  lack  one  element  of  perfection,  namely 
existence. 

This  is  Anselm's  famous  metaphysical  proof  of  the 
existence  of  God.  The  natural  objection  to  it  is  that  it 
only  proves  that  we  cannot  conceive  the  idea  of  a  perfect 
being  without  conceiving  existence  as  a  part  of  that  idea. 
But  this  does  not  prove  actual  existence,  but  only  ideal  or 
intellectual  existence.  Existence  may  be  intellectually  ne- 
cessary to  complete  the  idea  of  a  perfect  being  ;  but  when 
we  have  completed  the  idea,  we  have  not  demonstrated 
the  reality.  This  answer  was  in  fact  made  to  Anselm 
by  a  contemporary  monk  named  Gaunilo,  who  undertook 
to  reply  on  behalf  of  the  Fool.  This  book  bore  the  intrepid 
title,  "  Book  in  Defence  of  the  Fool  against  Anselm." 

"  This  is  what  the  Fool  might  say,"  writes  Gaunilo.  "  You 
tell  me  that  because  the  idea  of  the  Perfect  Being  is  in  my 
mind  I  am  therefore  obliged  to  conceive  of  him  as  really  exist- 
ing. But  there  are  atheists  who,  when  they  hear  of  the  Perfect 
Being,  and  understand  the  meaning  of  the  idea,  still  do  actually 


AUGUSTINE,  ANSELM,  AND   BERNARD.  153 

deny  and  disbelieve  his  existence.  Because  we  have  in  our 
minds  the  idea  of  tlie  Fortunate  Islands,  than  which  nothing 
can  be  more  perfect,  are  we  therefore  obliged  to  conclude  that 
they  exist,  because  otherwise  they  would  lack  one  perfection, 
namely  existence  ] " 

Thus  argues  Cliiunilo.  The  argument  of  Anselni  was 
opposed  by  nearly  all  the  great  scholastic  doctors  of  the 
next  ceutury,  including  Albertys  Magnus,  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Duns  Scotus,  Occam,  Gerson.  Thomas  says  that  the  argu- 
ment would  be  only  effective  if  we  were  to  say  there  is,  not 
in  the  intellect  only,  but  in  reality,  something  than  which 
nothing  greater  can  be  conceived  to  exist. 

In  modern  times  the  argument  of  Anselm  has  been 
revived  and  its  cogency  reasserted  by  Descartes ;  but  he 
has  strengthened  it  by  an  additional  point,  namely,  that  if 
the  idea  of  the  Perfect  or  Infinite  Being  is  found  in  a  finite 
mind,  it  must  have  been  put  there  by  the  Infinite  Being 
himself,  who  thus  proves  his  existence  by  giving  us  the 
idea  of  his  existence.  In  this  form,  no  doubt,  the  argu- 
ment from  the  conception  to  the  reality  is  much  more 
weighty. 

Kant  olijects,  in  the  usual  way,  to  this  proof.  He  says : 
"The  argument  is  this,  —  we  can  form  the  notion  of  a 
Being  who  unites  all  possible  perfections ;  but  existence 
is  a  perfection ;  therefore  we  nmst  attribute  existence  to 
this  Beincj. 

"No,"  Kant  says,  "we  must  attribute  the  idea  of  exist- 
ence to  this  being.  But  to  add  to  a  notion  the  idea  of 
existence  does  not  enlarge  it.  Whether  I  think  the  thing 
exists  or  does  not  exist,  the  notion  of  the  thing  remains 
the  same.  The  idea  of  a  hundred  dollars  which  exists  is 
precisely  the  same  as  the  idea  of  a  hundred  dollars  which 
does  not  exist." 

Hegel  takes  the  opposite  side,  and  considers  the  argu- 


154  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

ment  of  Anselm,  Spinoza,  and  Descartes  to  be  solid ;  and 
this  because,  to  him,  thought  and  existence  are  identical. 

I  suppose  we  may  say  that  no  one  was  ever  convinced 
of  the  existence  of  God  by  such  arguments  as  these.  We 
believe  in  God  because  we  are  made  to  believe  in  him, 
because  it  is  natural  to  believe  in  him,  and  because  we 
find  this  natural  belief  to  grow  deeper,  purer,  stronger,  in 
proportion  to  our  spiritual  elevation  and  the  devotion  of 
our  life  to  the  good  and  true.  It  makes  us  better  to 
believe  in  God ;  and  the  better  we  are  the  more  we  believe 
in  him.  But  the  intellectual  value  of  this  argument  seems 
to  amount  to  this,  —  that  the  human  mind  is  so  made  that 
it  cannot  but  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being 
whenever  the  idea  of  that  Being  enters  the  intellect.  The 
atheist  is  either  one  who,  by  some  singularity  of  his  mental 
structure,  is  incapable  of  receiving  the  idea,  —  that  is, 
whose  mind  is  exceptional ;  or  else  he  is  one  who  actually 
does  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  Perfect  Being,  but  calls 
him  by  some  other  name,  —  Nature,  Force,  the  Spirit  of 
the  Universe,  or  the  like. 

The  other  great  intellectual  exploit  of  Anselm  w^as  the 
establishment  of  a  theory  of  the  Atonement,  which  re- 
mained the  orthodox  doctrine  in  the  church  for  about  five 
hundred  years,  or  until  the  time  of  Grotius  ;  and  which  is 
still  accepted  and  taught  by  many  theologians. 

The  theory  of  the  Atonement  held  in  the  Church  during 
the  first  thousand  years  was  founded  on  the  Scripture 
words  "ransom"  and  "redemption"  as  applied  to  the 
forgiveness  of  sin.  It  was  derived  from  the  analogy  of 
war,  in  which  captives  became  slaves  unless  redeemed  by 
some  one  who  paid  a  ransom  for  them.  The  enemy  of 
souls  with  whom  we  contend  is  the  Devil.  By  our  sins 
we  become  his  lawful  prey.  Christ's  death  w^as  the 
ransom   paid   to   the   Devil;   which   being   paid   we    are 


A.UGUSTINE,    AN.SKI..M,    AND    HKIINARD.  155 

redeemed.  This  may  be  called  the  "  Warlike  theory  of  the 
Atonement." 

Then  came  the  theory  of  Anselm,  based  not  on  the 
word  "  ransom  "  but  on  the  word  "  debt."  "  Forgive  us  our 
debts."  The  debt  is  i)ei"f"ect  obedience,  and  is  due  not  to 
the  Devil,  but  to  God.  This  debt  man  is  unaljle  to  pay, — 
but  Christ,  who  is  God,  fulfils  this  obligation  for  us.  So 
Anselm  argues ;  and  his  argument''  may  be  called  the 
"  Legal  theory  of  the  Atonement." 

Anselm's  theory  of  the  Atonement  became  the  accepted 
doctrine  in  the  Church  until  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Since  that  time  it  lias  ceased  to  be  the  usually 
received  orthodo.x  form  of  the  doctrine.  But  consider 
what  is  meant  by  having  one  man's  belief  on  such  a  sub- 
ject become  the  belief  of  the  whole  Church  during  such  a 
period.  It  means  that  during  that  time  every  man's  feel- 
ing toward  God  and  Christ  was  more  or  less  modified  by 
Anselm's  metaphysics.  It  means  that  no  sinner  sought 
pardon  or  offered  prayer  throughout  Christendom  but  his 
hopes  were  somewhat  colored  by  the  convictions  born  in 
the  mind  of  this  ruler  of  thought.  He  who  governs  thought 
governs  action ;  for  as  we  think,  so  we  become.  Let  the 
name  of  Anselm,  therefore,  remain  as  one  of  the  motor- 
forces  of  the  world. 

A  few  days  before  Anselm's  death,  being  seventy-five 
years  old,  he  was  told  by  one  of  his  friends  that  it  was 
thought  he  could  not  live  many  days.  He  said :  "  If  this 
is  Goil's  will  I  am  content,  but  I  should  like  to  live  long 
enough  to  solve  a  question  I  am  examining  about  the 
origin  of  the  soul ;  especially  as  I  know  that  when  I  am 
gone  there  will  be  no  one  left  who  can  do  it."  His  life  has 
been  recorded  by  a  faithful  monk.^ 

^  One  of  the  latest  and  best  works  on  the  life  and  times  of  Anselm  is 
that  of  M.  Chnrlcs  de  Remusat,  of  the  French  Academy,  the  distinguished 
statesman  and  writer. 


156  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

The  moral  of  the  life  of  Anselm  is  the  immortality 
there  is  in  tlioiight.  Anselm  the  Monk  would  long  since 
have  been  forgotten  with  the  multitude  of  other  monks 
who  said  their  quiet  prayers  in  a  thousand  monasteries 
during  the  eleventh  century.  Anselm  the  Archbishop  and 
Statesman  might  have  been  remembered  longer,  but  only 
by  historians  and  students  of  the  by-ways  of  history.  But 
Anselm  the  Thinker,  who  succeeded  in  thinking  out  a  new 
theolooical  arc^ument  and  a  new  form  of  Christian  doctrine, 
will  have  a  name  forever  among  the  leaders  of  human 
opinion.  His  theory  of  the  Atonement,  mutilated,  indeed, 
and  dilapidated,  is,  nevertheless,  still  preached  in  numerous 
pulpits  by  honest  men  who  think  they  have  found  it  in 
the  Bible,  —  not  knowing  that  it  came  to  them  from  the 
brain  of  an  Italian  monk  meditating  by  the  Seine  some 
centuries  ago. 

There  are  many  who  sympathize  with  Comte  in  think- 
ing that  the  age  of  theology  and  that  of  metapliysics 
have  gone  forever;  and  that  only  positive  knowledge, 
only  the  science  w^hich  studies  the  outward  world,  is 
to  remain. 

But  who  knows  ?  Let  us  only  imagine  a  new  soul  to 
come  into  the  world,  gifted  like  those  of  Augustine  and 
Anselm,  going  down  so  deep  into  his  own  heart  as  to  feel 
what  is  in  all  other  hearts,  —  going  up  so  high  in  his 
aspiration  toward  the  All-Perfect  as  to  be  able  to  add  to 
nature  a  divine  presence ;  al)le  also  to  take  in  all  that  sci- 
ence teaches  of  law,  and  all  that  the  gospel  teaches  of  life ; 
illuminating  religion  with  the  light  of  universal  knowl- 
edge, and  making  science  alive  with  love.  Let  such  an 
one  come  and  formulate  this  large  synthesis  for  mankind, 
teaching  us  — 

"  How  to  o'ernile  the  hard  divorce 
Which  parts  things  natural  and  divine;" 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,    AND    liERNARD.  157 

and  perhaps  sucli  a  <;raii(l  thL'ulo<,ry  and  iiictai)liysics  may- 
be the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  thought  for  the  world. 
rerha})S  we  ^^lH)ul(l  then  gladly  rescue  ourselves  out  of 
the  halfness  in  wliich  wc  live,  into  such  a  s])liere  of 
universal  trutli,  —  the  harmony  of  all  knowledge  and  all 
life. 

§  11.  aSV.  Bernard.  FcaddlUm.  JJrriiard  joim  the  Cis- 
tercian Moiihs,  ami  founds  the  Abhe//  of  Clair vanx.  —  From 
Anselm  we  pass  to  St.  lUrnaid  IJcrnard,  Ablxjt  of  Clair- 
vaux,  was  boin  near  I)ij(»n  in  Uurgundy  A.  I).  1091. 
He  was  son  of  a  knight  who  dilfered  fi'om  most  of  his 
brother  barons  in  being  gentle  in  manners,  a  friend  of  the 
poor,  and  having  an  incredible  zeal  ior  justice.  His  wife, 
Alith,  was  loving  and  devout.  Their  son  inherited  the 
sense  of  justice  of  one  and  the  piety  of  the  other,  and  a 
courage  which  may  have  been  transmitted  to  him  from 
a  long  line  of  warrioi-s.  His  own  life  was  a  perpetual 
battle,  —  a  conflict  to  the  death  with  the  evil,  or  what  he 
deemed  evil,  in  the  woild  around  him.  Longing  for  the 
peace  of  his  convent  and  for  quiet  communion  with  God, 
he  was  obliged  constantly  to  leave  this  calm  atmosphere 
in  order  to  settle  disputes  between  princes  and  people, 
popes  and  kings,  thinkers  and  writers.  And  he  never 
hesitated  to  go,  never  shrank  from  these  duties,  never 
doubted  that  he  should  have  power  to  lultil  them.  So  it 
came  to  pa.ss  that  whenever  the  Chui'ch  or  the  World  got 
into  a  difficulty  which  no  one  else  could  possibly  settle, 
they  sent  for  the  Abbot  of  Clairvau.x,  and  he  succeeded  in 
deciding  the  question  and  bringing  ]>eaoe. 

It  was  a  fierce  world  into  which  Bernard  camo.  Every 
man  was  killing  or  being  killed,  plundering  or  being  plun- 
dered, oppres.sing  others  or  being  o])pre.ssed  himself,  —  all 
but  the  monks.     Every  one  else  was  obliged  to  take  arms 


158         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

at  a  moriient's  warning-  and  follow  his  feudal  lord  to  the 
field,  to  fight  he  did  not  know  wliy,  with  some  persons 
with  whom  lie  had  no  quarrel.     This  was  feudalism. 

Feudalism  has  been  often  defined,  but  seldom  very 
clearly.  The  simplest  definition,  I  think,  is  this  :  the  per- 
manent encampment  of  an  army  in  a  conquered  country. 
The  invading  races  of  Germans  who  overran  France,  Italy, 
Spain,  and  England,  were  stronger  than  the  population  they 
conquered,  because  the  invaders  were  massed  and  in  mo- 
tion, while  the  conquered  were  scattered  and  at  rest.  The 
momentum  of  a  moving  body  was  their  strength;  but  when 
they  settled  in  the  conquered  country  they  lost  this  advan- 
tage, and  were  few  in  numbers  compared  with  the  con- 
quered people.  Therefore  the  conquerors  arranged  a  system 
by  which  each  tenant  held  his  land  by  being  ready  to  do 
military  service  at  any  moment.  The  common  soldier  had 
his  ten  acres  of  land,  we  will  say,  on  condition  of  coming  at 
once  armed  when  his  captain  called  him.  The  captain  had 
his  hundred  acres  on  condition  of  coming  with  his  company 
when  his  colonel  called  him.  The  colonel  had  his  thou- 
sand acres  on  condition  of  comimr  with  his  regiment  when 
his  general  sent  for  him.  So  whenever  this  general  (diox  or 
duke)  had  a  quarrel  with  a  neighboring  general  or  duke, 
he  called  out  his  dependents ;  and  they  had  to  go,  or  lose 
their  lands.  This,  in  a  nutshell,  was  the  feudal  system, 
and  it  entailed  perpetual  wars  on  the  countries  where  it 
existed. 

The  monks  alone  were  not  compelled  to  fight,  though 
their  vassals  miojht  be  ;  and  the  monasteries  were  often, 
though  not  always,  at  peace.  The  knights  on  their  way  to 
battle  could  hear  in  the  hush  of  night  the  peaceful  sound 
of  convent  bells,  — 

"  Over  some  wide-watered  shore 
Swinging  slow  with  solemn  roar  ; " 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND    BERNARD.  159 

or  coming  from  tlie  depths  of  tlie  woods  where  the  monas- 
tery slept  in  serene  quiet. 

Bernard,  after  seeing  enongli  of  tlie  figliting  world,  de- 
cided for  the  monastery.  Twelve' miles  from  l)ij()n  was 
the  Abbey  of  Citeaux,^  founded  only  a  few  years  before,  Ijut 
bound  by  very  strict  rules.  Bernard,  who  did  everything 
thoroughly,  in  becoming  a  monk  meant  to  be  a  real  monk  ; 
so  he  chose  Citeaux,  which  in  time  came  to  be  the  mother- 
abbey  of  the  great  Cistercian  order,  and  numbered  three 
thousand  six  hundred  abbeys  subject  to  itself.  But  at  this 
time  it  was  poor  enough,  and  the  monks  could  hardly  keep 
themselves  alive.  The  buildings  of  this  famous  abbey  still 
exist,  but  have  been  turned  into  a  reformatory  school  for 
juvenile  oflenders.  Bernard,  who  Avas  a  born  preacher, 
could  not  rest  till  he  had  persuaded  others  to  join  him  ; 
and  such  was  the  power  of  his  words  that  he  soon  had  a 
number  of  converts,  among  them  one  or  two  knights.  AVith 
about  thirty  of  these,  after  a  time  given  to  solitary  devo- 
tion, he  went  to  Citeaux,  and  began  his  monastic  career. 
Here  he  communed  with  God  not  only  in  the  church  but 
in  the  lonely  woods.  "  Trust  my  experience,"  said  he. 
"  You  will  find  something  greater  in  the  woods  than  in 
books.  Stones  and  trees  will  teach  you.  The  mountains 
drop  sweetness,  and  you  will  suck  oil  from  the  flinty  rock." 

When  he  entered  Citeaux  he  was  twenty-two.  Two 
years  after,  he  led  twelve  monks  on  foot,  ninety  miles,  to 
found  a  new  abbey,  that  of  Clairvaux.  The  monks  erected 
the  building  themselves.  The  earth  was  the  floor,  and  a 
few  slits  in  the  wall  the  windows.  They  slept  on  drie  1 
leaves,  in  wooden  boxes,  and  lived  on  herbs  and  water. 
Afterward  this  abbey  became  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
in  France,  and  at  present  what  remains  of  it  has  become  a 
capacious  prison.     In  this  valley  of  Wormwood,  as  it  was 

1  See  Plato  XL 


160         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY.. 

called,  Bernard  and  his  monks  nearly  starved  ;  but  their 
voluntary  poverty  made  them  popular  and  excited  sym- 
pathy, and  this  brought  them  finally  fame  and  wealth.^ 

But  here,  at  first,  Bernard  practised  such  austerities  that 
he  nearly  killed  himself.  His  friend,  the  Bishop  of  Cha- 
lons, tried  to  convince  him  that  this  was  wrong,  but  inef- 
fectually. At  last  the  good  Bishop  bethought  himself  of 
another  plan.  The  Bishop  asked  the  Abbot  of  Citeaux,  who 
was  Bernard's  superior,  to  delegate  to  him,  for  a  year,  that 
authority.  This  being  granted,  he  ordered  Bernard  to  leave 
the  convent  and  live  in  a  comfortable  house,  under  the 
care  of  a  physician,  and  to  take  such  food  as  the  physician 
directed.  Bernard  at  once  obeyed,  for  obedience  to  Ins 
superior  was  one  of  his  vow^s.  So  his  life  was  saved  for 
great  uses. 

About  this  time  Bernard  began  to  work  miracles.  He 
cured  his  friend,  William  of  Thierry,  of  a  very  serious  ill- 
ness by  a  few  words  of  encouragement. 

Afterward,  later  in  life,  he  performed  many  more  such 
miracles.  In  those  days  men  were  expecting  miracles  and 
found  them.  Bernard  himself,  however,  seemed  a  good  deal 
surprised  at  his  own  power.  Having,  by  means  of  a  bless- 
ing, cured  a  man  who  had  kept  his  bed  for  seven  months, 
he  said  :  "  I  can't  think  what  these  miracles  mean,  or  why 
God  works  them  by  me.  Such  wonders  are  wrouglit  either 
by  holy  men  or  by  deceivers.  I  am  neither  a  holy  man  nor 
a  deceiver.  Perhaps,  however,  they  are  done  for  the  good 
of  others." 

§  12.  Bernard  rebukes  Kings,  Poj)es,  and  Prelates.  He 
decides,  hy  his  great  authority,  disinUes  in  tlie  Church  and 
State.  —  The  next  event  in  the  life  of  Bernard  arose  out  of 
a  dispute  between  Louis  VI.  of  France,  a  wise  and  good 
king,  and  the  Bishop  of  Paris,  in  regard  to  the  taxation  of 

1  See  Plate  X.  for  the  ground-plan  of  the  Abbey  of  Clairvaux. 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND    UEUNARD.  IGl 

ecclesiastical  persons,  wliicli  ended  in  the  kingdom  being 
put  under  an  interdict  by  tlie  Archbishop  of  Sens.  Follow- 
ing this  was  a  solemn  letter  addressed  to  the  King  by  the 
Abbot  of  Citeaux,  calling  on  him,  in  tlie  name  of  the 
Almighty,  to  make  peace  with  the  J^ishop.  From  that 
home  of  poverty  came  forth  this  voice  of  calm  authority. 

lUit  it  seems  that  the  King  had  appealed  to  the  Pope, 
and  the  Pope  had  taken  off  the  interdict,  which  placed  our 
friends  of  Citeaux  and  Clairvaux  in  rather  a  ridiculous 
position ;  whereupon  Bernard  lifted  up  his  voice  and  re- 
buked the  Pope,  as  he  did  more  than  once  in  after  days. 
Bernard  was  no  respecter  of  persons  when  he  thought  a 
question  of  right  was  at  stake. 

Next  came  Bernard's  dispute  with  the  monks  of  Cluny. 
This  abbey,  founded  more  than  two  hundred  years  before, 
had  reached  a  high  degree  of  wealth  and  splendor.  The 
abbot  was  like  a  king.  He  coined  money.  He  governed 
a  province.  He  could  summon  a  chapter  of  3000  monks. 
In  one  year  he  relieved,  at  the  gate  of  his  abbey,  17,000 
poor  persons.  This  power  and  wealth  made  the  existing 
abbot  so  proud,  wayward,  and  prodigal,  that  much  scandal 
came  from  it.  His  name  was  Pontius ;  and  having  been 
expelled  for  his  irregularities,  he  collected  a  body  of  follow- 
ers, broke  open  the  gates,  and  plundered  the  monastery. 

In  the  midst  of  tliis  tumult  Bernard  once  more  spoke. 
He  wrote  a  letter,  in  Mhich  he  rebuked  these  Cluniac 
monks  for  their  luxury  and  pride.  His  invectives  were 
severe  against  the  display  in  their  churches.  He  by  no 
mejins  approved  of  the  rich  decorations  of  their  buildings, 
and  had  a  sort  of  Quaker  feeling  in  favor  of  a  very  plain 
church.  He  did  not  foresee  that  his  own  church  at  Clair- 
vaux would  one  day  become  the  most  magnificent  in  all 
France. 

Then    came    the    great    papal    schism,    in    which    two 

11 


162         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTOIIY. 

popes  claimed,  each  at  the  same  time,  to  be  the  supreme 
ruler  of  the  Church.  Bernard  at  once  took  sides  with 
Innocent  against  Anacletus.  Again  he  left  his  cell  to 
settle  the  affairs  of  Universal  Christendom.  Under  his 
influence  all  France,  with  one  exception,  took  part  with 
Innocent;  but  William,  Lord  of  Aquitaine,  was  firmly 
devoted  to  Anacletus.  Bishops  and  abbots  of  this  party 
had  been  put  in  full  possession  of  all  the  great  ecclesias- 
tical positions  in  that  important  province.  No  one  could 
arrange  this  difficult  point  but .  Bernard.  The  Count  of 
Aquitaine  was  perfectly  willing  to  acknowledge  Innocent, 
but  no  power  on  earth,  he  said,  should  induce  him  to 
restore  the  bishops  whom  he  had  expelled,  who  had  mor- 
tally offended  him.  Thereupon  Bernard  went  into  a  church 
to  celebrate  mass,  leaving  the  Count  on  the  outside  as  an 
excommunicated  person,  who  might  not  enter.  Having 
consecrated  the  elements,  he  came  out  with  eyes  flam- 
ing with  light,  bearing  the  Host,  and  went  directly  to  the 
Count,  saying :  "  The  servants  of  God  have  begged  and 
implored,  and  you  have  despised  our  prayer.  Behold  the 
Son  of  Grod,  who  comes  to  command  !  Your  Judge  is  liere, 
into  whose  hands  your  soul  will  shortly  go  to  answer  for 
this  deed !  Obey  him,  or  die  forever ! "  Hearing  these 
words  and  seeing  the  awful  expression  in  the  face  of  the 
Prophet,  the  Count  grew  stiff  in  every  limb  and  fell  on  the 
ground  as  if  dying.  He  could  neither  speak  nor  see,  but 
lay  foaming  at  the  mouth.  Bernard  went  to  him,  and 
said  :  "  Else,  and  obey  your  Lord  !  Go  and  give  the  kiss 
of  peace  to  this  bishop  whom  you  have  expelled  ! "  The 
Count  arose  and  obeyed,  and  they  became  reconciled  to 
each  other ;  for  those  were  days  in  which  all  who  taught, 
and  all  who  heard,  firmly  believed  in  the  same  supernatu- 
ral powers  present  in  their  midst.  Eeligious  awe  was  a 
mighty  force.     Those  cruel   knights,  half  of  whose  lives 


AUGUSTINE,   ANSELM,   AND   UEUNARD.  163 

were  spent  in  plunder  and  murder,  spent  the  other  half  in 
trembling  before  a  (Jod  of  vengeance. 

After  this  came  Bernard's  struggle  with  Abelard,  tlie 
arch-heretic  of  tlie  time.  His  heresy  concerned  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  which  lie  did  not  deny,  but  only 
explained;  but  to  Bernard  it  was  dangerous  and  wrong  to 
attempt  to  explain  a  mystery,  and  he  successfully  put 
forth  all  his  vast  energy  to  silence  tliis  dangerous  inno- 
vator. Abelard,  a  man  of  wonderful  intellectual  })ower, 
was  followed  by  thousands  of  hearers,  lie  represented  the 
spirit  of  inquiry,  of  investigation,  —  the  coming  age  of  free 
thought.  Opposed  to  him  was  Bernard,  who  stood  for 
implicit  faitli  in  all  established  doctrines,  and  to  whom  to 
incpiire  was  the  same  thing  as  to  disbelieve.  Abelard 
lived  several  hundred  years  too  soon,  and  was  obliged  to 
submit,  as  every  one  else  submitted,  to  the  imperious  will  of 
this  religious  dictator  of  the  twelfth  century. 

Feeble  in  body,  liable  to  frequent  disease,  the  powerful 
spirit  of  Bernard  ruled  the  flesh  and  compelled  its  weak- 
ness to  become  strength.  He  preached,  lectured,  and  wrote 
innumerable  letters  to  all  parts  of  Christendom.  He  was 
the  real  Pope  of  his  day.  And  his  letters  were  not  the 
diminutive  notes  of  our  time.  There  was  no  cheap  post- 
age then,  and  a  letter  meant  a  letter.  Each  letter  was  a 
treatise ;  and  on  every  matter  of  interest  which  arose  he 
wrote  several  of  these  treatises.  The  Church  of  Lyons 
saw  fit  to  celebrate  a  festival  to  the  Immaculate  Conception 
of  the  Virgin.  What  the  Church  of  Lyons  did,  you  will 
say,  was  no  concern  of  Bernard,  Abbot  of  Clairvaux.  l^ut 
everything  which  touched  religion  or  morals  was  his  con- 
cern ;  so  he  wrote  a  long  letter  tp  them  remonstrating 
against  this  innovation.  This  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  which  Pope  Pio  Nono,  in  1854,  declared  a 
doctrine  of  faith,  was  opposed  by  nearly  every  great  doctor 


164         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

and  saint  of  the  Church  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies,—  by  St.  Bernard,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  St. 
Bonaventura. 

§  13.  He ]pTectclies  the  Second  Crusade;  opposes  the persecio- 
tion  of  the  Jeivs  ;  admonishes  the  Pope  of  his  duties.  —  Once 
more  he  was  called  on  to  leave  his  convent  to  preach  the 
Second  Crusade,  A.D.  1147.  Here  his  habit  of  accepting 
the  ideas  of  his  time  led  to  disastrous  results.  Bernard 
was  sick,  feeble,  prematurely  old.  The  fiery  soul  had 
fretted  the  puny  body  to  decay ;  but  the  Pope  called  on 
him  to  go  out  and  preach  a  second  crusade  for  the  recovery 
of  the  land  conquered  by  the  Infidels.  He  arose,  forgot 
his  weakness,  and  went.  Wherever  that  pale,  thin  face 
appeared,  wherever  that  voice  of  wonderful  power  was 
heard,  society  was  dissolved,  and  men  took  up  the  cross. 
He  moved  through  France,  and  the  whole  male  population 
was  roused  to  an  enthusiasm  of  devotion.  He  went  into 
Germany,  and  the'  same  results  followed.  The  German 
Emperor,  Conrad,  had  made  up  his  mind  to  stay  at  home ; 
but  Bernard  came  and,  before  all  the  people,  rebuked  him 
in  the  name  of  Christ  for  his  indifference,  till  the  Emperor 
burst  into  tears  and  consented  to  go. 

Two  great  armies,  under  the  King  of  France  and  the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  set  out  for  the  Holy  Land.  The 
chivalry  of  Europe  was  there.  Multitudes  were  destroyed 
either  by  disease  or  the  sword  of  the  Moslem.  Some  were 
sold  as  slaves  by  the  Greek  Christians.  Many  embraced 
the  Mohammedan  faith.     Very  few  returned  to  Europe. 

Though  Bernard  made  a  terrible  mistake  in  this  matter, 
his  nobleness  of  soul  appeared  in  defending  the  Jews 
against  their  Christian  persecutors.  A  monk  named  Bo- 
dolph  travelled  along  the  Rhine,  inflaming  the  people 
against  the  Jews  till  they  were  slaughtered  in  great  num- 
bers.    When  Bernard  heard  of  it  his  wrath  was  kindled 


AUGUSTINE,  ANSELM,  AND  BERNARD.       1G5 

by  this  wickedness,  and  he  ])reached  and  wrote  against 
these  atrocities,  and  commanded  tliat  they  should  cease. 
"  0  Itodolph  ! "  said  he,  "  thy  doctrine  is  of  the  Devil,  who 
sent  thee.  He  was  a  murderer  and  liar  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  thou  art  his  child."  He  met  Eodolph  face  to 
face,  and  sent  him  back  in  shame  to  liis  convent. 

At  another  time  he  wrote  a  long  letter  to  the  Poj^e, 
Innocent  II.,  whom  he  had  greatly  helped  to  regain  the 
papacy,  plainly  rebuking  him  for  liis  faults.  He  was  a 
churchman  and  priest  throughout,  but  he  could  not  "  cry 
Peace  where  there  was  no  peace."  He  was  as  ready  to 
denounce  a  pope's  sins  as  those  of  any  other  man.  He 
addressed  the  Pope  in  these  words:  — 

"  The  churches  complain  that  they  are  mutilated  and  wounded. 
By  your  permission  abbots  are  withdrawn  from  the  authority  of 
bishops ;  bishops  from  that  of  archbishops.  By  doing  this  you 
show  your  authority,  indeed,  but  not  your  justice.  You  act 
thus  because  you  are  able  to  do  so  —  but  whether  you  ought 
to  do  so  is  another  question.  ...  Is  it  not  unbecoming  in  you 
to  have  no  law  but  your  own  will  ;  and,  because  there  is  no 
tribunal  above  you,  to  exert  your  power  and  despise  reason  1 
Are  you  greater  than  our  Lord,  who  said  *  I  have  not  come  to 
do  mine  own  will '  ]  Do  you,  who  possess  the  whole,  envy 
others  their  little  share  ]  Remember  the  crime  of  Ahab  who, 
being  lord  of  all,  yet  desired  another  man's  vineyard.  May 
God  preserve  you  from  hearing  the  words,  'Thou  hast  killed 
and  taken  possession.'  " 

§  14.  Augustine,  Anschn,  and  Bernard  the  property  of 
the  whole  Church,  Catholic  arul  Protestant.  —  Such  were  the 
great  souls  who  did  good  work  for  religion  and  humanity 
during  the  dark  centuries.  They  labored,  and  we  have 
entered  into  their  labors.  They  belong  to  Protestants  no 
less  than  to  Catholics.  They  lived  in  periods  when  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  elements  were  included  in  a  com- 


166         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

mon  communion.  In  fact,  each  of  these  represents  a  Prot- 
estant idea,  —  Augustine  that  of  personal  salvation  by  faith 
in  Christ ;  Anselm,  of  freedom  in  intellectual  inquiry ;  Ber^ 
nard,  of  the  superiority  of  the  moral  to  the  ecclesiastical 
law.  Without  Augustine  we  should  hardly  have  had 
Luther.  Anselm  taught  that  every  doctrine  must  be  shown 
to  be  in  accord  with  human  reason.  Bernard  must  always 
stand  for  the  supremacy  of  righteousness  over  secular  and 
ecclesiastical  authority..  In  him  was  embodied  the  Higher 
Law.^ 

1  The  Church  historian,  Joseph  Milner,  —  of  whom  it  has  been  said 
that  "the  principles  on  which  he  wrote  were  narrow,  his  scholarship 
poor,  and  his  critical  insight  poorest  of  all,"  —  had  at  least  the  merit  of 
seeing  the  worth  of  these  three  Catholic  saints,  and  claiming  them  as  the 
founders  and  fathers  of  genuine  Protestantism. 


JEANNE  D'AKC.  167 


VI 
JEANNE  D'AEC. 

§  1.  Sources  of  Information  concerning  her.  State  of 
France  wJien  she  appeared.  —  We  have  considered  some 
striking  events  and  luminous  points  in  religious  history. 
We  have  taken  a  look  at  Christianity  in  the  Catacombs ; 
at  tlie  lUiddhist  monks  in  their  monasteries ;  at  the  wild 
solitary  hermits  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries ;  at  the 
monastic  life  of  tlie  following  period  ;  at  the  power  wielded 
by  the  Fathers  and  Doctors  of  the  Church  in  the  middle- 
ages.  Let  us  come  a  little  nearer  to  our  own  time,  and 
descend  tlie  current  of  history  two  centuries.  Again  we 
come  to  France,  the  scene  of  St.  Bernard's  laboi*s.  And 
now  the  power  of  faith  to  remove  mountains  and  change 
the  course  of  history  is  to  be  seen  not  in  any  great  Saint 
or  Doctor  but  in  an  innocent  ])easant,  —  a  young  girl 
hardly  more  than  a  child,  but  in  whom  a  spirit  dwelt  that 
has  made  her  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  ages.  Her  great- 
ness consists  in  this,  that  she  did  everything  by  pure  force 
of  soul. 

It  is  a  renuirkaljle  fact  that  we  have  almost  as  full  and 
exact  account  of  the  life  of  Jeanne  as  if  we  had  known  her 
ourselves.^ 

1  Five  large  octavo  volumes,  edited  by  Jules  Quich(M-at  in  1854,  repro- 
duced, in  the  old  Latin  and  French,  the  oilicial  record  of  the  two  trials  of 
Condemnation  and  Revision.       This    is    taken  tVom  the  orijrinal  manu- 


168         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN    liELIGlOUS   HlSTOllY. 

After  sleeping  four  hundred  years  in  the  Eoyal  Library 
at  Paris,  a  cloud  of  witnesses  come  forth  from  their  graves 
to  declare  what  they  knew  and  saw.  Ninety  had  appeared 
before  the  court  of  Ee vision  to  testify  in  her  favor,  —  thirty- 
four  of  them  from  her  native  town.  Three  of  the  greatest 
generals  of  Erance  —  Dunois,  D'Alengon,  and  De  Gau- 
court  —  bear  witness  to  her  military  prowess.  We  have 
her  own  words  given  in  answer  to  thirty  public  and  pri- 
vate examinations  during  her  trials.  Thus  her  whole  life 
is  photographed  for  us  as  by  a  sunbeam. 

The  four  hundred  and  fifty  years  which  have  passed  since 
the  death  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  have  purified  her  memory 
from  the  stains  with  which  prejudice  and  ignorance  had 
soiled  it ;  but  it  has  been  reserved  for  the  nineteenth 
century  to  do  full  justice  to  the  lieroine  of  the  fifteenth. 
A  noble  German  poet  has  illustrated  her  character  in  one 
of  his  most  charming  dramas ;  and,  since  the  time  of  Schil- 
ler, ])atient  research  has  discovered,  araoni^  the  contempo- 
rary memoirs  of  the  period  in  wliicli  s]ie  lived,  and  in  the 
records  of  her  two  trials,  the  amplest  means  of  vindicating 
her  pure  and  noble  virtues. 

Jeanne  dArc  was  put  to  death  by  the  sentence  of  the 
Eoman  Catholic  Church  in  May,  1431.  Twenty  years 
had  hardly  elapsed  when  a  tribunal  of  the  same  Church 

scripts  in  the  BiUiotheqne  Eoyale.  Those  records  were  translated  into 
modem  French,  and  published  in  1858  in  two  large  octavo  volumes,  by 
E.  O'Reilly,  Counsellor  of  the  Imperial  Court  at  Rouen.  Again,  M.  Wal- 
lon,  Secretary  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions,  has  collected  in  one  vol- 
ume, published  in  1876,  every  important  fact  bearing  on  this  story. 
Besides  all  this,  there  have  been  in  the  last  few  years  many  other  works 
treating  of  separate  questions  in  regard  to  the  Maid  of  Orleans,  — such  as 
"Jeanne  D' Arc  in  Literature,"  "in  Poetry,"  "in  Art";  monographs  on 
her  portraits  and  statues,  on  her  family,  on  the  ])laces  she  visited  ;  and  fac- 
similes of  her  letters.  Most  of  these  publications  are  in  the  Boston  Public 
Library.     Our  illustrations  are  taken  from  the  Edition  de  luxe  of  Wallon. 


Plate  XV. 


Fig.   1.      Home  of  Jkanne  d'Arc  at  Domhkmy. 


Fig.  2.     Church  at  Provias, 


JEANNE  D'ARC.  IGO 

re-examined  and  reversed  the  sentence.    The  King  of  France, 
whose  lailing  fortunes  she  had  restored,  but  who  had  made 
no  effort  to  save  her  in  her  i)eril,  was  now  better  advised, 
and  ordered  a  new  trial  of  her  case.     Pope  Calixtus  III., 
in  consequence  of  this  royal  demand,  and  in  compliance 
with  the  request  of  the  niotlier  and  brothers  of  the  heroic 
girl,  directed  the  Archbishop  of  Eeims  and  the  Bishops 
of  Paris  and  Coutances  to  preside  on  the  occasion.     Seven 
or  eight  mouths  were  occupied  in  this  investigation.     Wit- 
nesses came  from  all  parts  to  testify  in  her  favor.     Tlie  old 
people  from  lier  native  town ;  the  younger  companions  of 
lier  cliildhood  ;  Dunois  and  the  Duke  d'Alen^on,  both  com- 
rades in  her  military  leadership  ;  Louis  de  Contes,  her  page; 
D'Aulon,  her  squire ;  Pasquerel,  her  confessor ;  those  who 
saw  her  in  her  prison,  and  those  who  stood  near  her  at  the 
scaffold  ;  even  the  officials  and  notaries  employed  by  her 
enemies,  —  all  appeared  in  turns  to  testify  to  some  sepa- 
rate trait  in  her  lovely  character.     In  their  depositions  was 
revealed  the  pure  and  modest  life  of  the  young  girl  in  her 
fixther's  home,  —  her  simplicity  of  character  and  inspired 
firmness  of  soul  duriucr  her  famous  career.     All  these  wit- 
nesses  testified  to  her  patience  amid  her  sufferings  after 
she  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  and  to  her  boldness 
before  tlie  tribunal  of  her  enemies.      They  also  described 
the  sudden  illumtnations  which  showed  her  the  crafty  pur- 
poses of  her  judges.     After  hearing  this  evidence  the  court 
declared  that  the  charges  brought  against  Jeanne  were 
calumnious  and  false,  and  the  former  sentence  null  and  of 
no  effect.     Tliey  commanded  that  this  decree  be  read  pub- 
licly in  the  place  where  she  had  been  so  cruelly  put  to  death, 
and  also  in  the  city  of  Orleans  which  she  had  delivered. 

Thus  there  is  no  history  which  rests  on  more  authentic 
materials  than  that  of  Jeanne  d'Arc.  The  English,  not 
satisfied  witli  putting  her  to  death  with  the  utmost  bar- 


170  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

barity,  endeavored  to  blast  her  reputation  and  destroy  her 
character  by  the  sentence  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts.  That 
no  monument  might  ever  be  built  over  her  remainS;  they 
cast  her  ashes  into  the  Seine ;  but,  unconsciously,  they  had 
erected  a  far  nobler  monument  to  her  memory  in  the  trial 
itself. 

Beautiful  as  is  Schiller's  drama,  and  well  as  he  has 
delineated  her  character,  no  one,  we  think,  can  read  the 
simple  memoirs  of  her  life,  and  the  events  of  her  short 
career,  without  feeling  that  these  constitute  a  far  nobler 
poem.  Nothing  can  surpass  the  touching  beauty  of  the 
facts  themselves. 

In  1422  Charles  VI.,  King  of  France,  died.  In  the  same 
year  his  son,  Charles  VIL,  was  crowned  at  Poitiers  ;  and 
the  English  King,  Henry  VI.,  was  also  crowned  in  Paris  as 
King  of  France  and  of  England.  The  affairs  of  Charles 
VII.  were  nearly  desperate.  The  English  occupied  Nor- 
mandy, Champagne,  Picardy,  the  Isle  of  France,  and 
Guienne.  The  Duke  of  Burgundy,  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful princes  of  Europe,  was  their  ally ;  and  so  was  Isa- 
bella, Queen  of  France,  the  mother  of  Charles  himself. 

The  English  generals,  Salisbury,  Warwick,  Talbot,  Arun- 
del, Somerset,  were  the  greatest  captains  of  the  age.  The 
English  soldiers,  flushed  with  victory,  expected  another 
Cre^y  or  Agincourt  in  every  battle.  The  French,  dispir- 
ited, expected  always  defeat.  Disaster,  poverty,  and  dis- 
grace seemed  to  have  permanently  settled  upon  the  French 
court  and  nation, 

§  2.  Her  early  Life  and  her  Visions.  —  It  was  in  the 
midst  of  this  state  of  things  that  a  peasant  girl,  seventeen 
years  old,  reversed  the  tide  of  events,  overthrew  the  Eng- 
lish power,  and  in  less  than  a  year,  driving  their  victorious 
armies  before  her  in  all  directions,  saved  her  King  and 
nation  from  destruction. 


JEANNE  D'AEC.  171 

Jeanne  d'Arc  was  born  Jan.  G,  1412,  in  tlie  village  of 
Domreniy,  which  is  situated  on  the  river  Meuse,  in 
the  northeastern  part  of  France,  on  the  borders  of  Lor- 
raine and  Champagne,  and  not  far  from  the  town  of 
Neufchateau. 

The  Burgimdians,  who  sided  witli  the  English  in  the 
wars  of  the  fifteenth  century,  claimed  Lorraine  to  the  line 
of  the  Mouse,  and  this  border  region  was  the  battle-field 
of  both  parties.  Its  inhabitants  sufiered  from  both  sides, 
and  were  the  subjects  of  neither.  The  people  of  Dom- 
remy,  however,  took  part  with  Charles  VII.  of  France,  and 
the  children  of  this  village  fought  with  the  children  of  a 
neighboring  village,  wlio  were  in  favor  of  Burgundy.  In 
1428,  when  Jeanne  was  about  sixteen  years  old,  the  village 
of  Domremy  was  ravaged  by  a  party  of  Burgundians,  and 
the  inhabitants  were  forced  to  fly  to  the  neighboring  walled 
town  of  Neufchateau.  Jeanne  took  refuge  there  for  five 
days  with  her  father  and  mother,  living  at  an  inn. 

In  such  situations  as  these  people  become  thoughtful 
and  poetic,  of  which  the  minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  border 
affords  a  proof ;  and  even  the  peasantry  often  take  a  strong 
interest  in  national  affairs. 

The  father  of  Jeanne  was  a  poor  man,  having  only  a  few 
sheep  and  cattle.  He  had  five  children,  three  sons  and 
two  daui'hters. 

Jeanne  never  learned  to  read  or  write  ;  she  usually  made 
two  crosses  at  the  top  of  the  letters  she  dictated.^     Siie 

1  Jeanne's  name  is  signed  to  several  documents  of  which  the  originals 
still  exist.  We  give  the  fac-simile  of  one  of  them  (page  189),  addressed  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Riom,  dated  Nov.  9,  1429.  Another,  to  the  inliabi- 
tants  of  Reims,  dated  March  16,  1430,  four  montlis  later,  has  her  name 
formed  in  a  vt'ry  similar  way.  The  letters  in  each  signature  resemble 
each  other  so  exactly  that  they  were  evidently  written  by  the  same  hand. 
It  is  not  probable,  though  no  doubt  possible,  that  the  same  scribe  should 
have  written  both  documents  ;    but  the  fact  which  seems  to  prove  th:it 


172  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTOKY. 

was  taught  to  sew  and  spin,  to  repeat  the  Pater  Noster 
and  the  Credo.  The  depositions  contained  in  the  "  Process 
of  Eevision  "  all  testify  that  she  was  simple,  chaste,  modest, 
patient,  charitable,  and  pious.  "  I  would  that  God  had 
given  me  as  good  a  daughter  as  she  was,"  said  oue.  The 
commissioner  sent  by  the  English  to  Domremy  to  inquire 
into  her  early  life  reported  that  he  could  learn  nothing 
which  he  would  not  have  wished  to  find  in  that  of  his  own 
sister. 

Jeanne  worked  in  the  field  with  her  father,  ploughing, 
weeding,  harvesting,  and  also  watched  the  sheep.  At 
home  she  spun  and  helped  in  the  household  work,  and 
when  she  had  no  work  to  do,  she  was  found  kneeling  in 
the  village  church. 

While  in  the  fields,  whenever  the  church  bell  rang,  she 
knelt  and  prayed.  The  bell  ringer  not  being  always  punct- 
ual, she  reproached  him  for  it,  and  promised  him  money  if 
he  would  be  more  exact.  A  girl,  Hauviette,  her  companion 
from  childhood,  thus  testifies :  "Many's  the  time  I  have  been 
at  her  father's ;  she  was  a  good  girl,  simple  and  gentle." 

A  laborinij  man,  who  was  examined,  said  she  used  to 
tend  the  sick  and  give  to  the  poor.  "  1  know  it  well,"  he 
said ;  "  I  was  a  child  then,  and  she  tended  me." 

Her  soul  was  nourished  by  prayer  and  the  contempla- 
tion of  nature.  From  her  father's  door,  she  could  see  the 
borders  of  the  great  oak  forest  of  the  Vosges.  A  beech- 
tree,  so  beautiful  as  to  be  visited  by  the  country  people 

this  was  not  the  case  is  that  where  the  same  word  occurs  in  the  body 
of  the  two  documents  it  is  often  written  quite  differently.  Though 
she  declared  that  she  did  not  "know  A,  B,  or  C,"  she  may  yet  have 
learned  to  sign  her  name.  I  cannot  find  this  question  discussed  in  any 
of  the  works  on  her  biography.  I  have  been  told  of  a  French  coasting- 
captain,  sailing  from  Boston,  who  had  just  this  knowledge.  He  signed 
his  name,  "  Dominique  Gerroir,"  to  all  documents,  but  could  not  other- 
wise write,  or  read  writing. 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  173 

who  danced  under  its  shade,  and  celebrated  as  the  haunt 
of  fairies,  was  lier  favorite  resort. 

But  there  was  no  superstition  or  gloom  in  her  piety. 
Being  questioned  at  her  trial  as  to  the  tree,  she  said  that 
her  godmother  told  her  she  saw  fairies  under  it,  hut  she 
herself  never  did.  Her  visions  came  in  midday,  in  lier 
father's  garden  ur  on  the  blossoming  heatli,  and  a])peared 
to  lier  as  angels  and  saints,  surrounded  by  an  aureole  of 
light.  Of  these  supernatural  appearances  which  were  seen 
only  by  herself,  we  of  course  have  only  her  own  account, 
and  in  speaking  of  them  we  shall  adhere  to  this.  She 
never  varied  from  her  statements,  from  first  to  last.  At 
present  we  can  only  say  that  to  her,  at  least,  they  were 
real.  Her  faith  in  them  was  her  support  amid  her 
trials,  the  strength  by  which  she  overcame  obstacles. 
She  first  saw  these  visions  in  her  thirteenth  year.  One 
sunnner's  day  an  extraordinary  light  appeared  to  her  as 
she  was  working  in  her  father's  garden,  and  a  voice  told 
her  to  "  be  good  and  trust  in  God."  She  says,  in  her  ex- 
amination, that  she  was  affrighted,  and  from  that  moment 
consecrated  herself  as  a  virsjin  to  God. 

Again  a  vision  came  to  her,  while  keeping  sheep  alone 
on  the  meadows,  and  this  time  she  saw  the  figure  of  an 
archangel  with  wings  and  a  very  noble  air  (un  ires  vray 
prudhoinmc),  with  other  angels.  These  figures  she  saw 
"  with  her  bodily  eyes."  St.  Michael  told  her  she  was  to 
save  France,  and  that  she  was  to  go  to  the  aid  of  King 
Charles.  Jeanne  wept.  She  told  the  angel  she  could  not 
mount  a  horse  nor  command  an  army.  The  angel  told  her 
to  go  to  Vaucouleurs  and  find  the  captain  there,  who  would 
send  her  to  the  Kincr. 

This  vision,  in  which  her  mission  was  first  revealed  to 
Ihm-,  was  in  1425,  wlien  she  was  only  thirteen  years  old. 
She  did  not,  liowovcr,  at  first  bcli(*ve  that  it  was  St.  Michael 


174  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

(Elle  fist  grande  doute  si  c'estoit  St.  Michiel).  The  vision 
was  three  times  repeated,  and  the  angel  spoke  of  "the 
pity  that  there  was  for  the  kingdom  of  France"  {pitie  qui 
esioit  au  royaulme).  After  this,  she  saw  also  two  female 
saints,  St.  Marguerite  and  St.  Catherine,  who  constantly 
talked  to  her. 

She  called  them  her  "Voices."  Her  respect  for  them 
was  profound.  She  kissed  the  earth  where  they  had  stood; 
and  wept,  when  they  had  gone,  that  they  had  not  taken 
her  with  them. 

But  solid  and  deep  natures,  though  open  to  impressions 
and  very  receptive  of  influences,  are  not  hastily  moved  by 
them.  Two  or  three  times  a  week  her  Voices  spoke  to  her, 
telling  her  that  she  must  go  and  deliver  the  kingdom. 
There  was  a  painful  struggle  in  her  soul,  between  her  dread 
of  the  greatness  of  the  task  and  its  responsibility,  and  her 
conscientious  sense  of  the  duty  to  submit  to  this  high  call. 

As  she  grew  up,  the  beautiful  female  saints  —  floating  in 
an  atmosphere  of  light,  their  heads  adorned  w^ith  crowns, 
their  voices  gentle  and  sweet  —  continued  to  visit  her,  and 
that  more  frequently.  She  declares  that  she  had  three 
counsellors,  one  of  whom  remained  near  her,  one  came  and 
went,  and  the  third  advised  with  them. 

By  degrees  the  conviction  became  fixed  in  her  mind 
that  she  was  the  person  pointed  out  in  an  old  prophecy  of 
Merlin,  current  in  the  country,  which  declared  "that  a 
woman  should  one  day  destroy  France,  and  a  virgin  from 
the  Marches  of  Lorraine  should  restore  it."  ^  With  this 
conviction  came  the  determination  of  this  pure  soul  to 
consecrate  her  life  to  the  w^ork. 

And  now  she  had  to  encounter  difficulties.  Her  father 
had  suspected  her  state  of  mind,  and  was  troubled  by  it. 

^  The  Queen  Isabella  had  evidently  fulfdled  the  first  part  of  the  pre- 
diction. 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  175 

He  swore  he  would  rather  see  her  drowned  than  go  off 
with  the  soldiers.^ 

He  could  not  understand  her  state  of  mind,  and  the 
prophet  had  no  honor  in  her  father's  house.  Her  hardest 
trial  was  to  choose  whether  to  disobey  her  parents  or  the 
heavenly  monitors. 

They  tried  to  keep  her  at  home  by  a  trick.  A  young 
man  cited  her  before  the  bishop's  court  at  Toul,  alleging 
that  she  had  promised  to  marry  him ;  but  she  went  to 
Toul,  and  easily  convinced  the  oliicials  there  that  the 
assertion  was  false. 

Determined  now  on  going  to  Vaucouleurs,  she  obtained 
permission  to  visit  an  uncle  and  stay  a  few  days  witli  him. 
He  was  named  Durand  Laxart,  and  lived  at  the  village  of 
Petit  Bury. 

He  was  her  first  convert,  and  at  her  request  went  to  ask 
the  Captain,  Baudricourt,  to  send  her  to  the  King ;  but 
the  Captain  thought  it  all  nonsense,  and  told  the  old  man 
he  had  been  made  a  fool  of  by  his  niece,  and  had  better  go 
home  and  give  her  a  good  slapping  {dare  ei  vapulas).  This 
new  view  of  the  subject  staggered  the  feeble  faith  of  the 
uncle,  and  he  went  back  and  communicated  it  to  Jeanne ; 
but  she  induced  him  to  take  her  to  see  the  Captain  at 
Vaucouleurs,  and  though  she  had  no  argument  to  use 
besides  her  own  strong  conviction  and  her  evident  piety, 
these  at  last  broke  down  the  resistance  of  the  somewhat 
coarse-minded  captain,  who  ended  by  sending  her  with  an 
escort  of  seven  men  to  the  King,  at  Chinon,  with  a  pass 
from  Charles,  Duke  of  Lorraine. 

§  3.  She  departs  on  her  Mission  to  deliver  France.  —  It 
was  in  February,  1429,  when  she  was  seventeen  years  old, 

^  These  are  liis  wonls,  preserved  by  a  witness,  in  the  old  Frencli  :  — 
'*  Si  je  cuidoye  que  la  chose  advinsist  que  j'ai  songie  d'elle,  je  vouldroye 
(juo  la  noyissies,  et  .si  vous  ne  le  faisies  jo  la  noyeroye  luoimesme." 


176         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

that  she  departed  upon  this  mission.  She  was  to  cross 
France  through  a  country  overrun  by  armed  bodies  of 
soldiers  of  both  parties,  where  there  was  neither  road  nor 
bridge,  without  female  attendant,  —  a  perilous  journey  of 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles ;  but  this  pure-minded 
girl,  full  of  faith,  apprehended  no  danger  and  found  none. 

She  adopted,  indeed,  as  a  protection,  a  soldier's  dress, 
which  she  did  not  lay  aside  till  after  her  capture  and 
imprisonment. 

She  perhaps  felt  justified  in  this  by  haviug  heard,  in  the 
Golden  Legend,  that  her  patroness,  St.  Marguerite,  had  also 
assumed  this  dress  in  an  emergency.^  But  the  purity  of 
her  soul  was  the  best  protection ;  there  was  an  atmosphere 
of  awe  and  religion  around  her.  The  inhabitants  of  Vau- 
couleurs  gave  her  this  dress.  Baudricourt  gave  her  a  sword ; 
Uncle  Lax  art  and  another  villager  bought  her  a  horse  for 
sixteen  francs.^  The  people  of  Vaucouleurs  followed  her 
out  of  the  town  with  good  wishes,  so  much  had  her  piety 
and  sweetness  touched  all  hearts. 

A  knight  and  a  squire  took  cliarge  of  her  escort,  and  one 
of  her  brothers  was  of  the  party.  They  were  full  of  doubts 
and  suspicions,  and  some  of  her  guard  were  once  half  in- 
clined to  throw  her  into  a  quarry  as  a  sorceress ;  but  she, 
calm  and  serene,  constantly  assuring  them  that  they  should 
reach  the  Dauphin  in  safety,  —  desiring  to  stop  at  every 
village  to  hear  mass,  no  matter  how  great  might  be  the  peril, 
—  gradually  impressed  them  with  the  same  serene  confi- 
dence. "  Fear  nothing,"  said  she,  quite  at  her  ease ;  "  God 
clears  the  way  for  me.  For  this  I  was  born."  It  seemed 
almost  a  miracle  when  they  found  themselves  at  their 
journey's  end  in  eleven  days  from  its  commencement. 

1  "Tonsis  crinibus  in  virili  liabitu."  —  Legenda  Aurea  Sanctorum, 
quoted  by  Michelet. 

2  See  Wallon,  page  42. 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  177 

And  now  how  is  she  to  persuade  the  King  to  trust  him- 
self, his  cause,  and  his  armies,  to  the  guidance  of  a  ])Oor 
peasant  girl  ?  Her  faith  will  remove  this  mountain  also. 
Wliile  the  King  is  hesitating  whether  he  will  even  admit 
her  to  an  audience,  she  is  deciding  the  question  by  the 
impression  which,  as  at  Vaucouleui'S,  she  makes  on  all 
who  approach  her.  Her  confident  words,  her  fervent  and 
unceasing  prayers,  her  frequent  communions,  her  fastings, 
the  holiness  of  her  life,  her  sweetness,  simplicity,  modesty, 
and  good  sense,  created  a  movement  in  the  public  mind 
which  few  were  able  to  resist.  After  deliberatim,^  three 
days,  the  King  consented  to  see  her.  Perhaps  if  his  affairs 
had  been  less  desperate  he  would  have  refused ;  but  even 
this  straw  of  hope  seemed  something  to  cling  to  in  his 
drowning  condition.  Moreover,  in  overcoming  the  tirst 
and  lesser  difficulties,  she  continually  accumulated  more 
force  by  which  to  overcome  subsequent  and  greater  ones. 
Thus  the  mere  fact  that  she  had  been  able  to  come  to  him 
through  such  dangers  encouraged  the  King  to  believe  in 
her.  Her  hopeful  and  confident  promises  of  relieving 
Orleans,  uttered  on  the  journey,  had  been  carried  by 
rumor  to  the  besieged  in  that  city,  and  Dunois,  the  com- 
mander, sent  to  the  King  to  inquire  what  these  rumors 
meant.  Thus  an  influence  seemed  to  fl^w  out  from  her 
own  deep  faith,  to  create  a  prestige,  an  enthusiasm  in  other 
minds. 

In  order  to  prove  her  power,  the  King,  when  he  admit- 
ted her  to  an  audience,  mingled  with  his  courtiers ;  but 
she  went  directly  to  him,  and,  though  he  denied  that  he 
was  the  King,  she  was  not  confused.  "  Gentle  Dauphin,"  ^ 
said  she,  "  my  name  is  Jeanne  la  Pucelle.  1  come  from 
the  King  of  Heaven  to  tell  you  that  you  are  the  lawful 

1  She  called  him  Dauphin  because  he  had  not  yet  been  crowned  at 
Reims. 

12 


178          EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

heir  of  France,  son  of  the  King,  and  that  I  am  to  deliver 
Orleans,  and  then  take  you  to  Reims  to  be  crowned  King 
of  France." 

It  is  also  reported  by  several  witnesses  that  she  told  the 
King  what  was  known  only  to  himself  and  God,  —  that 
recently  in  his  oratory  he  had  prayed  (but  without  speak- 
ing aloud)  that,  if  he  were  the  true  heir  to  the  crown,  he 
might  regain  his  kingdom,  but  if  not,  that  he  might  at 
least  escape  in  safety  to  Spain  or  Scotland. 

Jeanne  was  at  this  time,  in  March,  1429,  over  seventeen 
years  of  age.  She  was  handsome,  of  a  fine  figure,  tall,  and 
had  a  sweet  and  penetrating  voice.  Many  were  for  at  once 
confiding  in  her,  among  them  the  Duke  d'Alen^on  and  the 
nobles  from  Lorraine ;  but  there  were  older  and  more  cau- 
tious statesmen  who  wished  for  more  proof.  So  it  was 
decided  to  send  her  to  Poitiers,  where  were  the  Parliament 
and  a  university,  and  to  consult  the  doctors  and  theologians, 
as  well  as  the  wisest  of  the  civilians  there  assembled. 

Here  was  a  new  trial.  The  spirit  was  now  to  be  exam- 
ined and  judged  by  the  letter.  She  felt  that  it  would  be  a 
hard  struggle,  but  she  knew  that  she  slunild  surmount  it. 
"  I  know  well  that  I  shall  have  hard  work  to  do  at  Poitiers, 
but  my  Master  will  aid  me.  Let  us  go,  then,  in  God's 
name." 

It  is  very  beautiful  to  see  how  she  evaded  the  diffi- 
culties, overcame  the  ol)jections,  and  quietly  put  aside  the 
learned  cavils  of  these  doctors,  by  the  simplicity  and  di- 
rectness of  her  answers.  Tliey  first  asked  her  what  signs 
she  had  to  show  them  to  prove  her  mission.  "  I  have  not 
come  to  Poitiers  to  show  a  sion.  Give  me  some  men-at- 
arms,  and  lead  me  to  Orleans,  and  I  will  then  show  you 
signs.  The  sign  I  am  to  give  is  to  raise  tlie  siege  of 
Orleans." 

"  But,"  objected  one,  "  if  God  wished  to  deliver  the  city 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  179 

he  could  do  it  witliout  soldiers."  "  The  soldiers  will  fight, 
and  God  will  give  them  the  victory,"  replied  she;  and 
what  more  can  the  profoundest  thinker  say  of  the  con- 
nection between  the  use  of  means  and  results  ? 

Brother  Seguin  of  Limousin,  a  very  sour  man  {hien 
aigrc),  asked  her,  in  his  provincial  dialect,  in  what  idiom 
her  angels  spoke.  '-'In  a  better  idiom  than  yours,"  was 
her  answer.  "  Do  you  believe  in  God  ? "  said  he,  rather 
angrily.  "I  have  more  faith  in  God  than  you  have," 
replied  LaPucelle;  and  the  sharp  man,  who  might  have 
troubled  her,  was  silenced. 

But  still  the  doctors  went  on  with  their  examinations, 
asking  endless  questions,  and  suggesting  a  multitude  of 
learned  difficulties.  "Why  do  you  ask  me  all  these 
things  ? "  said  she ;  "  I  do  not  know  even  my  A,  B,  C ; 
but  I  have  come,  by  God's  command,  to  raise  the  siege  of 
Orleans  and  crown  the  Kinfr." 

The  doctors,  having  nothing  more  to  say,  finally  decided 
in  her  favor;  influenced  thereto  somewhat  by  the  great 
reverence  she  had  inspired  among  the  people  of  Poitiers, 
as  before  at  Chinon  and  Vaucouleurs,  by  her  holiness  and 
piety.  Jacques  Gelu,  Archbishop  of  Embrun,  also  took  the 
same  ground  in  a  treatise  composed  in  answer  to  questions 
proposed  to  him. 

The  Devil  was  believed  to  have  no  power  over  a  virgin. 
As  her  power,  therefore,  could  not  be  from  beneath,  it  was 
logically  inferred  that  it  was  from  above. 

§  4.  Bcinff  acccqited  hi/  the  King,  she  raises  the  siege  of 
Orleans.  —  The  King  then  gave  her  an  establishment.  A 
wise  and  brave  counsellor  of  the  King  was  to  attend  her 
as  esquire.  She  had  two  pages,  two  heralds,  a  chaplain, 
valets,  and  guards.  "  It  was  beautiful  to  see  her,"  says 
Guy  de  Laval  in  a  letter  to  his  mother,  "in  white  armor, 
sitting  on  a  black  horse,  with  a  small  axe  in  her  hand." 


180         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

The  Voices  had  told  her  to  send  for  an  old  sword,  marked 
with  five  crosses,  which  was  behind  the  altar  in  the  chapel 
of  St.  Catherine  de  Fierbois.  The  armorer  went,  and 
among  a  heap  of  old  weapons  formerly  given  to  the  chapel, 
and  which  lay  near  the  altar,  such  a  sword  was  found. 

But  what  she  most  loved  was  her  standard,  which  had 
been  made  of  white,  covered  with  fleur-de-lis.  On  one 
side  w^as  represented  the  Savior,  seated  on  the  clouds  of 
Heaven,  with  angels  adoring  him.  On  the  other  side  was 
written  Jhesus  Maria. 

This  standard  she  always  carried  in  the  midst  of  battle, 
seldom  using  her  sword ;  for  she  said  she  did  not  wish  to 
kill  any  one,  and  though  she  loved  her  sword,  she  loved 
her  standard  forty  times  more. 

The  men  of  whom  she  now  took  command  were  almost 
as  savage  as  wild  beasts,  but  she  soon  tamed  them.  She 
sent  all  bad  women  out  of  the  camp.  She  made  these 
brio-ands  confess  and  leave  off  swearino\  La  Hire,  who 
had  feared  neither  God  nor  man,  no  longer  ventured  to 
utter  an  oath ;  but  Jeanne,  seeing  his  embarrassment  Ibr 
want  of  his  accustomed  expletives,  allowed  him  sometimes 
to  swear  by  his  staff.  "  The  devils,"  says  Michelet,  "  had 
been  changed  into  little  saints."  As  they  marched,  in  Ihe 
beautiful  spring  weather,  along  the  banks  of  the  Loire,  from 
Blois  to  Orleans,  she  had  an  altar  erected  in  the  open  air, 
where  they  all  communed.  A  generous  ardor,  a  pure  hope, 
had  made  them  young  again,  —  had  broken  through  the 
crust  of  evil  habit  and  sin,  and  allowed  some  ray  of  love  to 
warm  their  hearts. 

At  night  she  lay  down  in  her  armor.  She  knew  not 
fear.  She  wished  to  go  up  on  the  side  of  the  river  where 
the  English  had  built  their  bastilles,  or  forts,  around  the 
city.  Struck  by  a  strange  awe,  the  English  did  not  oppose 
her  entering  the  place,  which  she  did  on  the  29th  of  April; 


JEANNE   D'ARC. 


181 


and  in  eijjit  dtiys  from  that  time  she  drove  the  English 
from  the  city,  which  they  had  been  investing  for  eight 
months. 

We  cannot  dwell  at  length  on  tlie  detiiils  of  tliese  won- 
derful days.  Enough  to  say  that  few  things  in  military 
history  surpass  the  valor  and  skill  with  wdiicli  she  planned 
and  executed  the  attacks  on  these  English  bastilles,  or  the 
ardor  which  the  Ercncli  troops,  inspired  by  her,  showed  in 
these  successive  assaults.^ 


CUym 


Plate  XVI.  —  Map  of  regiou  urouud  Orleans,  for  the  campaiga  of  Orleans  and  the  Loire. 

From  Wallon. 


1  Dunois  testified:  "Before  she  came  to  Orleans  800  or  1000  of  ray- 
soldiers  could  not  resist  200  Enf^lish.  After  she  came,  400  or  500  of  mine 
could  con(|uer  any  number  of  English  soldiers.  I  think  she  was  sent  by 
God,  and  her  skill  in  war  was  more  divine  than  human.  I  saw  it  in  many 
things,  —in  this  among  the  rest.  May  27,  early,  we  attacktd  the  Boule- 
vard of  the  Bridge.  Jeanne  was  wounded  by  an  arrow,  which  entered 
half  a  foot,  between  her  neck  and  shoulder.     She  went  on  fighting  as 


182         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

The  English,  inflamed  by  rage,  cursed  her  and  insulted 
her,  but  always  fled  before  her.  She  wept  to  see  their 
dead  bodies,  slain  without  confession.  When  Talbot  threat- 
ened to  have  her  burned,  she  cried :  "  Come  out :  and  if 
you  can  take  me  in  single  combat,  you  may  burn  me."  She 
had  to  encounter  the  opposition  of  some  of  the  French 
captains  and  leaders  also,  who  wished  to  act  without  her 
or  against  her  advice,  and  left  her  out  of  their  counsels. 
She  sprang  up  suddenly  at  night,  while  sleeping  with 
Charlotte,  a  daughter  of  the  treasurer  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  and  cried  out:  "  My  God!  The  blood  of  our  people 
is  running  on  the  ground.  It  was  ill  done.  Why  was  I 
not  wakened  ?  Quick,  —  my  arms,  my  horse  ! "  She  gal- 
loped off  at  full  speed,  and  met  the  French  laying.  They 
turned  back  when  they  saw  her,  attacked  the  bastille 
again,  and  carried  it.  Then  she  returned  to  the  city;  but 
for  refreshment  would  take  only  a  few  slices  of  bread 
dipped  in  wine  and  water.  This  sometimes  was  all  her 
nourishment  during  the  whole  day. 

On  Ascension  Day,  Jeanne  liad  determined  to  pass  the 
whole  day  in  prayer.  The  French  captains  took  advantage 
of  her  absence  to  have  a  little  prudent  worldly  talk  about 
their  position.     Schiller  says,  in  "Don  Carlos,"  that  — 

"  Tlie  wisdom  of  the  world  condemns 
And  scorns  the  inspiration  born  of  Heaven." 

They  probably  thought  that  her  inspiration  was  better  to 
animate  than  to  direct,  to  impel  than  to  guide,  better  in 

before.  The  battle  lasted  all  day.  At  eight  in  the  evening  I  thought  we 
ought  to  retreat.  La  Pucelle  came  to  me  and  asked  me  to  wait  a  little 
longer.  She  then  went  into  a  trellis  of  vines,  alone  ;  remained  in  prayer 
half  an  hour  ;  returned,  and  seizing  her  banner  in  her  two  hands,  went  to 
the  ditch.  As  soon  as  they  saw  her  the  English  trembled  and  were  taken 
with  a  i»anic.  Our  soldiers,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  inspired  with  new 
courage,  and  assailed  the  fort,  meeting  no  resistance." 


JEANNE  D'ARC.  183 

tlie  field  tlian  in  tlic  council.  lUit  tlieir  wisdom  was 
folly  by  the  side  of  her  inspiration.  She  chose  tlie  means 
as  wisely  as  she  pursued  the  end  zealously.  She  saw 
that  they  were  concealing  sometliing  from  her,  and  said : 
"  Tell  me  what  you  have  determined.  I  can  keep  this 
secret  and  greater  ones  also."  It  seems  they  had  deter- 
mined to  wait  for  reinforcements  before  attacking  the 
strongest  forts  of  the  English ;  but  Jeanne  said :  "  You 
have  been  at  your  counsel,  I  at  mine.  The  counsel  of  my 
Lord  will  stand ;  yours  will  come  to  naught.  Let  all  be 
ready  early  to-morrow  for  the  attack.  Much  blood  will 
flow,  and  I  also  shall  be  wounded."  Yet  this  proud  and 
firm  nature  was  moved  to  tears  by  the  cruel  insults  of  the 
English.  "The  King  of  Heaven  knows,"  said  she,  "that 
tiiey  speak  falsely."  Presently  she  added  that  she  felt 
consoled,  for  she  had  news  from  her  Master. 

The  next  morning,  thougli  the  French  captains  had 
determined  not  to  yield  to  her,  and  refused  to  open  the 
gates,  she  compelled  them  by  her  immense  energy  to  do 
so,  and  hurled  an  impetuous  assault  upon  the  principal 
fort  of  the  English.  It  was  so  strongly  intrenched,  by 
the  river  and  a  deep  fosse,  as  to  be  almost  impregnable, 
and  was  defended  by  the  best  English  troops  and  cap- 
tains. The  Duke  d'Alenqon,  having  afterwards  examined 
this  bastille,  said  he  would  have  undertaken  to  defend  it 
for  seven  days  against  any  force  that  could  have  been 
brought  against  it.  But  all  of  Jeanne's  predictions  were 
to  be  this  day  verified.  She  was  wounded,  liaving  crossed 
the  ditch  and  been  the  first  to  plant  a  ladder  against  the 
walls.  They  carried  her  from  the  walls  and  took  off  her 
armor.  Pain  and  affright  overcame  her;  she  began  to 
weep ;  but  presently  her  Saints  appeared  to  her,  and  her 
heroism  returned. 

She  pulled  tlie  arrow  out  with  her  own  hands,  saying 


184         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

she  had  rather  die  than  have  the  charms  muttered  over 
the  wound  which  were  commonly  used  by  the  soldiers.  She 
prayed  earnestly  to  God,  and  was  consoled.  Meantime, 
wearied  with  the  long  and  useless  struggle,  the  French 
were  everywhere  retreating.  Noon  had  long  passed,  and 
the  English  seemed  to  have  won  the  day.  But  Jeanne 
bego'ed  the  French  leaders  to  return  once  more  to  the 
attack;  and  seeing  her  standard  near  the  walls  she  rode 
toward  it,  crying :  "  If  it  touches  the  walls,  we  shall 
enter  1 "  The  moment  the  French  saw  her  they  turned, 
and  poured  onward  in  an  overflowing  tide  against  the 
fort,  and  began  to  climb  its  walls.  The  English,  having 
believed  her  killed,  were  terrified  as  at  the  sight  of  an 
apparition,  and  gave  way.  A  shot  struck  down  the  bridge 
over  which  the  English  commander  was  passing  into  the 
fort,  and  he  was  drowned  in  the  ditch.  At  the  same 
moment  the  people  of  Orleans  opened  their  gates,  and 
attacked  the  fort  in  crowds  from  the  otlier  side.  Instantly 
it  was  filled,  taken,  and  its  defenders  driven  out  or  slain. 
The  bells  of  Orleans  rang  all  night  for  joy,  and  the  "  Te 
Deum  "  was  chanted  in  the  churches. 

The  next  morning,  which  was  Sunday,  saw  the  English 
in  full  retreat.  Jeanne  would  not  allow  them  to  be  pur- 
sued, but  had  an  altar  erected  in  the  plain  in  full  sight  of 
tlieir  retreating  troops.  "For  the  love  of  St.  Dimanche 
[Sunday]  do  not  kill  tliem  to-day.  Do  not  attack  them 
the  first,"  said  she.  "  My  Master  does  not  wish  us  to  fight 
to-day.     Let  them  go,  —  that  is  enough." 

§  5.  Further  campaigns  and  victories.  The  King  crowned 
at  Reims.  —  The  first  part  of  the  prediction  being  thus 
accomplished,  she  wished  to  fulfil  the  rest.  "  Now,"  said 
she,  "noble  Dauphin,  let  us  marcli  to  Eeims.  I  shall  last 
only  a  year,  or  a  little  longer ;  I  must  be  well  employed." 
The  politicians  smiled  at  what  they  thought  a  childish 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  185 

folly  in  her,  thus  to  insist  on  the  ceremony  of  coronation. 
But  her  folly  was  wisdom,  for  tlie  great  mass  of  the  people, 
unable  to  decide  questions  of  succession,  thought  they 
ought  to  accept  as  tlieir  king  him  wlio  was  the  rightful 
heir,  and  who  sliould  be  regularly  crowned.  Jeanne's  as- 
sertion was  like  a  voice  from  heaven,  as  to  the  first  point, 
in  behalf  of  Charles.  Let  him  be  crowned  at  Reims,  and 
the  French  nation  would  then  accept  liini  as  their  true  and 
legitimate  sovereign.  Jeanne,  a  daughter  of  the  people, 
understood  this  better  than  the  courtiers ;  and,  fortunately 
for  Charles,  she  was  able  to  overrule  their  selfish  or  timid 
counsels,  and  induce  the  King  to  undertake  this  perilous 
march  of  some  two  hundred  miles  through  the  thickest  of 
his  enemies. 

By  her  courage  and  wisdom,  the  town  of  Jargeau,  twelve 
miles  from  Orleans,  was  taken  by  storm.  Presently  the 
famous  Falstaff  (or  Falstaffe)  arrived  with  large  reinforce- 
ments for  Talbot ;  but  Jeanne  continually  encouraged  and 
animated  anew  the  doubting  Frenchmen.  "  If  these  English 
were  hanging  to  the  clouds  we  should  get  them,"  cried 
she.  "Have  you  good  horses?"  she  said  to  the  captains. 
"What!  must  we  fly?"  "Oh,  no!  But  you  will  need 
them  to-day  in  pursuing  the  English.  The  gentle  King 
will  have  the  greatest  victory  to-day  he  has  ever  won." 
Well  did  she  fulfil  the  prophecy ;  for  on  that  day  Crecy 
and  Agincourt  were  both  avenged.  Falstafle  fled ;  Talbot 
and  others  were  taken  prisoners,  and  two  thousand  English 
were  slain.  ^ 

The  maid  wept  at  the  sight  of  this  bloodshed,  and  ex- 
erted lierself  to  prevent  the  French  from  ill-treating  their 
prisoners.  One  of  them  was  struck  on  the  head  near  her ; 
she  sprang  from  her  horse,  held  his  head  in  lier  arms,  had 

1  This  was  at  Patay  wlu-re,  four  months  b'foro,  Falstaffe,  with  two 
thousand  English,  had  defeated  Dunois  and  four  thousand  French. 


186  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

a  priest  brought  to  him,  comforted  him,  and  encouraged 
him  to  meet  death  with  a  stronsj  heart. 

The  people  had  faith  in  Jeanne,  but  the  nobles  still 
doubted  and  distrusted  her.  She  was  always  obliged  to 
overcome  their  resistance.  They  had  no  faith  in  her  taking- 
Orleans,  but  she  took  it.  They  did  not  dare  to  go  to  Eeims, 
and  had  offered  instead  a  campaign  on  the  Loire.  She  ac- 
cepted it  and  finished  it  in  a  week,  taking  Jargeau  June  12. 
On  the  loth  she  was  at  Baugency,  and  took  it  on  the  17th. 
On  the  18th  she  encountered  at  Patay  both  Talbot  and  Fal- 
staffe,  hitherto  victorious,  and  they  were  routed  by  the  van- 
guard of  the  French.^  The  English  prestige  came  to  an  end 
that  day.  One  fortified  city  after  another  had  opened  its 
gates  to  the  French  King.  The  French  generals  offered  no 
more  positive  resistance  to  her  commands  ;  yet  envy  of  her 
influence  filled  some  jealous  hearts,  and  they  sought,  pri- 
vately always,  to  weaken  her  power  over  the  King. 

Throughout  the  march  to  Eeims,  prudence,  in  the  form 
of  the  King's  counsellors,  was  always  advising  one  thing, 
and  faith,  speaking  by  Jeanne,  another.  When  they 
reached  Troyes,  prudence  declared  that  they  could  neither 
take  so  large  and  well  defended  a  place,  nor  would  it  be 
safe  to  leave  it  in  their  rear ;  they  had  better  return.  So 
thought  the  Archbishop  of  Reims.  But  one  old  counsellor 
argued  more  wisely,  and  reconciled  earthly  and  heavenly 
wisdom.  He  said  :  "  When  the  King  undertook  this  march 
he  did  so  not  because  of  his  great  force  or  abundance 
of  money,  or  because  it  seemed  possible,  but  merely  be- 
cause Jeanne  said,  '  Go  and  be  crowned  at  Eeims  1 '  Let 
us  now  do  as  she  says.  Ask  her  if  we  shall  attack  the 
city."  Jeanne  was  called.  "  Shall  I  be  believed  ?  "  said 
she."  "If  you  say  what  is  reasonable,  I  will  believe  you," 
said  the   King.     "  Shall   I   be  believed  ? "    she   repeated. 

1  See  map  on  page  181. 


JEANNE   D'zVRC.  187 

"  Yes  ! "  replied  the  king.  "  Then,  noble  Dauphin,  tell 
your  people  to  assault  the  town  ;  lor,  by  my  God,  you  shall 
enter  Troyes,  by  force  or  love,  in  two  days."  "If  we  could 
be  sure  of  entering  in  six,"  said  the  Chancellor,  "  we  would 
wait ;  but  1  have  my  doubts  of  it."  "  Six  ? "  said  she ; 
"  You  shall  be  masters  of  Troyes  to-morrow ! "  She  led 
them  to  the  assault  and  the  town  was  taken. 

This  was  ou  the  9th  of  July.  On  the.  15th  they  entered 
Reims,  and  the  King  was  crowned  on  the  17th,  with  all 
the  usual  ceremonies.  Jeanne  occupied  the  highest  place 
on  this  occasion,  with  her  standard  in  her  hand.  Then 
she  flung  herself  on  her  knees,  weeping,  and  said :  "  O 
gentle  King,  now  is  accomplished  the  will  of  God,  that  I 
should  raise  the  siege  of  Orleans  and  bring  you  to  be 
crowned  here,  to  show  that  you  are  the  right  king  and 
that  the  kingdom  belongs  to  you." 

Touched  by  the  sight  of  the  people,  who  came  singing 
hymns  to  welcome  the  King,  she  said :  "  Oh,  the  good 
people  !  When  I  die,  I  should  like  to  be  buried  here." 
"When  will  you  die,  Jeanne?"  said  Dunois.  "I  cannot 
tell,"  she  replied,  — "  when  God  wills.  I  would  that  he 
would  let  me  return  to  my  father  and  mother,  and  keep 
sheep  again.  They  would  be  so  glad  to  see  me.  But  I 
have  done  what  the  Lord  commanded." 

The  old  chronicle  says  that  thus  speaking  she  lifted  up 
her  eyes  to  Heaven,  and  all  the  lords  who  were  in  pres- 
ence never  saw  so  plainly,  as  in  her  looks  then,  that  she 
came  from  God. 

Wallon  says,  quoting  the  words  of  the  French  generals, 
that  the  f^nglish  had  become  com])letely  demoralized ;  and 
this  wonderful  girl  had  not  only  taken,  in  a  week,  all  the 
principal  English  fortresses  on  the  Loire,  defeated  their 
best  troops  and  captains  in  the  field,  caused  all  the  great 
cities  to  open  their  gates,  —  but  without   opposition  had 


188         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

marched  to  Eeims  through  a  territory  which  a  month 
before  had  been  wholly  in  the  English  power.  He  adds 
that  she  not  only  inspired  an  immense  enthusiasm,  but 
also  displayed  an  extraordinary  mihtary  ability.  She  rode 
her  horse  and  wielded  her  lance  like  an  old  knight.  She 
seemed  to  understand  by  intuition  the  details  of  war.^ 

Well  might  the  people  believe  in  her.  Her  great  re- 
nown had  not  impaired  her  modesty.  She  claimed  no 
merit,  saying,  "  My  work  is  but  a  ministry,"  She  showed 
the  same  constant  piety  as  before,  observed  daily  prayers 
and  Masses,  and  maintained  the  same  purity  of  life.  Evil 
thoughts  fled  from  the  most  impure  minds  in  her  presence. 
Every  night  she  staid  with  the  most  virtuous  women  in 
the  place  where  she  might  be. 

She  claimed  no  miraculous  power,  though  doing  works 
almost  miraculous.  "Nothing  like  these  acts  of  yours 
have  been  told  of,  even  in  any  book,"  said  one.  "  My 
Master  has  a  book,"  she  answered,  "  which  the  wisest  clerk 
has  never  read."  When  some  women  of  Bourges  asked 
her  to  touch  crosses  and  chaplets,  she  laughed  and  said : 
"  Touch  them  yourselves ;  they  will  be  quite  as  good." 

Jeanne  now  felt  tliat  her  work  was  done,  and  begged  the 
King  to  let  her  return  to  her  home  and  her  sheep. 

Great  pity  it  was,  says  the  old  record,  to  hear  her  ask,  as 
her  reward  in  the  midst  of  this  great  triumph,  to  be  per- 
mitted to  go  back  to  her  peasant's  home  and  tasks.  Two 
of  her  brothers,  Pierre  and  Jean,  had  followed  her  to  Keims. 
Her  father  Arc  and  uncle  Laxart  met  her  there. 

It  is  pleasant  to  see  that  the  village  of  Domremy  was 
exempted,  by  letters-patent  of  the  King,  from  all  taxes, 
for  the  sake  of  the  Maid.  Charles  VII.  also  gave  letters 
of  nobility  to  the  young  girl,  and  to  all  her  family,  and  by 
an  exception,  very  intelligible,  the  female  descendants  were 

*  See  fac-simile  of  a  military  letter  on  the  opposite  page. 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  189 


Plate  XVII.  —  Letter  of  Jeanne  to  the  people  of  Riom,  Nov.  9,  1429. 


/'  if  <«*.ri*«. 


->! 


Cliers  et  bons  amis,  vous  savez  bien  commont  la  ville  de  Saint-Pierre  le 
Moustier  a  este  piiuse  d'assault;  ot  a  I'aide  de  Dieu,  ay  en  tendon  de  faire 
vuider  les  autres  y)laces  (\\\\  sont  contraires  au  ro}';  niais  pour  ce  r^ue  grant 
despt'nse  de  i>ouldres,  trait  et  autres  habilleniens  de  guerre  a  este  f'aicte 
devant  ladiete  ville,  et  (pie  petitenient  les  seigneurs  qui  sont  en  cette  ville 
et  moy  en  sommes  pourveuz  pour  aler  inectre  le  siege  devant  la  Charite, 
oil  nous  alons  pn'stenient;  j»;  vous  prie  sur  tant  (pie  vous  aymez  le  bien  et 
honneur  du  roy  et  aussi  de  tons  les  autres  de  par  de9{i,  que  vueillez  incon- 
tinent euvoyer  et  aider  pour  ledit  siege,  de  pouldres,  salepestre,  soutfre, 
trait,  arlx'lestres  fortes,  et  d'autres  habilleniens  dt*  guerre.  Et  en  ce  iaictes 
tant  que,  par  faulte  desdictes  pouldres  et  autres  liabillemeus  de  guerre,  la 
chose  ne  soit  longue,  et  que  on  ne  vous  puis.se  dire  en  ce  estre  nt^gligens 
ou  refusans.  Chiers  et  bons  amis,  Nostre  Sire  soit  garde  de  vous.  Escript 
a  Molins  le  neufviesrae  jour  de  novembre. 

Jeuanne. 

[Ecrit  sur  I'adresse.] 
A  mes  chore  et  bons  amis,  les 
gens  d't'plise,  bourgois  et  habitans 
de  la  ?ilie  de  Uion. 


190         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

included.  But  still  more  remarkable  was  the  tribute  to 
her  virtues  paid  in  after-times.  After  the  defeat  of  Napo- 
leon the  allied  armies,  passing  on  to  Paris,  came  to  the 
village  of  Domremy.  There  the  German  troops,  out  of 
respect  to  the  memory  of  this  maiden,  forebore  to  plunder 
or  to  do  any  injury  to  the  inhabitants. 

"  How  far  that  little  candle  throws  his  beams  ! 
So  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world." 

§  6.  She  is  taken  prisoner  hy  the  Burgundians,  and  sold 
to  the  English.  —  From  this  culminating  point  of  glory  we 
must  now  descend  into  the  dark  valley  of  reverses,  cruelty, 
and  death. 

She  felt  that  her  work  was  done  when  the  King  was 
crowned.  From  that  moment  the  way  was  smooth  before 
him ;  cities  and  towns  opened  their  gates  to  him  every- 
where. 

The  sagacity  of  her  judgment  was  vindicated  by  the  result, 
for  all  France  now  seemed  ready  to  submit  to  the  King. 

But  her  own  mind,  though  yet  full  of  energy,  became 
clouded.  Though  still  displaying  an  heroic  and  almost 
superhuman  courage,  and  still  winning  battles,  she  on  the 
whole  lost  ground,  both  before  the  enemy  and  among  her 
own  party.  Until  this  time  all  she  undertook  succeeded  ; 
now  she  sometimes  failed.  The  first  reverse  was  under 
the  walls  of  Paris.  At  last,  perhaps  through  treachery, 
she  was  left  outside  of  the  walls  of  Compiegne  which  she 
was  defending,  and  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Burgundians. 
She  had  foreseen  it,  she  had  foretold  it,  —  but  with  this 
sad  prospect  in  full  view  she  did  not  lose  her  marvellous 
force  of  character.  At  the  moment  of  her  great  danger 
under  the  walls  of  the  city,  the  bells  were  rung  to  summon 
the  soldiers  to  rescue  their  heroine.  A  last  and  useless 
homage  !    No  one  came  to  defend  her.    The  governor  of  tlie 


Jeanne  d'ahc.  191 

place  has  the  ignominous  rei)utatioii  of  having  commauded 
the  gates  to  be  shut.  He  was  a  man  of  evil  habits,  for  which 
Jeanne  had  rebuked  liini.  He  afterwards  came  to  a  tragical 
end,  his  wife  persuading  his  barber  to  stianglc  him. 

And  now  what  \Nill  be  done  with  tiiis  young  girl,  thus 
taken  prisoner  ? 

Let  those  answer  who  talk  of  the  "  Ages  of  Faith," 
lament  the  degeneracy  of  the  present  times,  and  grieve 
that  tlie  age  of  chivalry  has  gone  forever.  In  our  century 
there  was  one  who,  like  Jeanne,  had  led  the  armies  of 
France  against  the  English.  He  was  their  deadliest  foe, 
the  invader  of  every  state  which  his  insatiate  ambition 
could  covet  and  his  matchless  genius  could  hope  to  over- 
come. After  pouring  a  sea  of  blood  over  Europe  he  was 
at  last  captured  by  the  nation  which  had  spent  millions  of 
money  and  thousands  of  lives  in  order  to  check  his  course. 
He  was  placed  in  a  distant  island,  but  surrounded  Mith 
friends,  books,  comforts,  luxuries.  And  yet  it  was  thought 
by  many  too  severe  a  punishment.  But  here  a  3'oung  girl 
was  taken  prisoner  of  war,  whose  only  crime  was  to  have 
defended,  with  matchless  heroism,  her  country  and  her  King. 
She  was  a  woman,  in  the  age  of  chivalry,  when  nothing 
was  talked  of  but  the  duty  of  protecting  attlicted  dames 
and  damsels,  —  a  virgin,  in  the  age  when  the  worship  of 
the  Virgin  had  almost  superseded  that  of  God ;  and  what 
did  they  do  ?  Uniting  savage  cruelty  with  pharisaic  hy- 
pocrisy, they  tried  her  for  heresy  and  sorcery,  endeavored 
to  lead  her,  by  falsehoods  and  deceptions,  into  self-accusa- 
tion ;  and  when  all  these  arts  which  bishops  and  noblemen 
practised  against  the  poor  peasant  were  foiled  by  her  trans- 
parent truth  and  holy  innocence,  they  dragged  her  to  the 
stake  and  burned  her  alive,  under  a  flimsy  pretext  which 
deceived,  and  could  deceive,  no  one.  How  much  has  the 
world  lost  by  the  change  from  the  Middle  Ages  ? 


192         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN  EELIGIOUS   HISTOEY. 

We  are  obliged  to  hasten  through  this  shameful  history ; 
yet  we  must  not  lose  the  heavenly  traits  which  shine  forth 
from  Jeanne  in  her  numerous  examinations. 

The  English,  greedy  for  her  blood,  tried  to  buy  her  of 
the  Burgundians,  and  at  last  succeeded  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  Church.  The  Bishop  of  Beauvais  and 
the  Inquisitor-General  demanded  her  of  Jean  de  Ligny, 
who  finally  sold  her  to  them  for  ten  thousand  francs.  The 
wife  of  De  Ligny  threw  herself  at  his  feet  and  begged  him 
not  to  dishonor  himself,  —  but  he  had  taken  the  money. 

§  7.  Tr ial,  Condemnation,  Execution, RehaMlitation. — The 
mock  trial  began.  After  six  months  spent  in  different  pris- 
ons, Jeanne  was  carried  to  Eouen  and  placed  in  an  iron 
cage,  with  fetters  on  her  limbs.  Although  to  be  tried  by 
an  ecclesiastical  court  for  heresy  and  sorcery,  she  was  kept 
in  the  English  prison  and  guarded  by  rude  soldiers,  who 
scrupled  not  to  offer  her  coarse  insults.  The  trial  was  con- 
ducted by  Pierre  Cauchon,  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  —  a  name, 
like  that  of  Caiaphas,  doomed  to  perpetual  infamy  as  a 
cruel  persecutor  who  sought,  under  the  forms  of  justice, 
pretexts  for  satisfying  the  malice  of  vindictive  foes  by  the 
murder  of  an  innocent  prisoner.  The  whole  judicial  pro- 
cess, says  Barante,  was  a  succession  of  falsehoods,  of  traps 
laid  for  the  unsuspecting  victim,  —  constant  violation  of 
justice  and  the  most  established  rights,  under  a  hypo- 
critical appearance  of  following  the  customary  rules.  They 
sent  into  her  prison  a  priest,  who  pretended  to  be  her 
secret  friend,  and  then  they  placed  notaries  behind  the 
walls  to  take  down  what  she  might  say  to  him.  Even 
the  notaries  were  ashamed  of  such  a  task,  and  refused 
to  do  it. 

Called  before  an  assembly  of  doctors  and  divines,  mostly 
hostile,  this  poor  girl  evinced  a  courage  as  great  as  she 
had  ever  shown  in  battle.     They  allowed  her  no  counsel; 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  193 

but  her  honesty  and  good  sense  were  the  best  helps,  and 
enabled  her  to  escape  the  snares  in  which  they  souglit  to 
entrap  her.  Their  threats  and  violence  produced  in  her 
neither  anger  nor  fear.  The  readiness  and  beauty  of  her 
answers  often  astonished  the  assembly.  They  asked  her 
if  she  knew  that  she  was  "  in  the  grace  of  God."  "It  is  a 
great  thing,"  said  she,  "  to  answer  such  a  question."  "  Yes, 
Jeanne,"  interrupted  one  of  the  assessors,  Jean  Tahi,  "it  is 
a  great  question,  and  you  are  not  bound  to  answer  it." 
**  You  had  better  be  silent,"  cried  the  Bishop  to  him.  "  If 
I  am  not,"  slie  replied,  "  may  God  make  me  so ;  if  I  am, 
may  God  keep  me  so.  But  if  I  were  not  in  the  grace  of 
God,"  she  added,  "  I  should  not  have  known  what  to  do." 
The  manuscript  says :  "  They  were  much  astonished,  and 
for  that  time  finished  the  examination."  ^ 

They  asked  her  another  time  about  her  standard.  "  I 
carried  it  instead  of  a  lance,"  she  answered,  "  so  as  not  to 
kill  any  one.  I  have  never  killed  any  one."  They  asked 
her  what  virtue  she  supposed  tliere  was  in  the  standard, 
wishing  to  accuse  her  of  magic.  "  I  said  to  it,  *  Go  boldly 
among  the  English,'  and  then  I  followed  it  myself."  They 
asked  her  why  she  brought  it  to  the  altar  at  Ileims  ?  "  It 
had  been  where  tliere  was  danger;  it  was  riiiht  tliat  it 
should  be  where  there  was  honor."  "What  did  tlie  people 
mean  in  kissing  your  hands,  feet,  and  garments  ? "  —  "  The 
poor  people  came  gladly  to  me  because  I  did  them  no 
wrong.  I  supported  and  helped  them,  as  I  had  the 
power."  Thus  simple,  unsuspecting  truth  was  too  much 
for  cunning. 

Sometimes  she  spoke  with  great  sublimity.  "  My 
Voices,  to-day,  have  told  me  to  answer  you  very  boldly;" 
and  she  followed  their  advice  to  the  letter.  81ie  rebuked 
the  Bishop  for  the  part  he  was  taking  in  tlie  trial,  and 

*  "Fuerunt  multum  stupefacti,  et  ilia  hoia  diiiiisemnt." 

13 


194  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

warned  him  of  the  terrible  responsibility  he  would  en- 
counter. "  Bethink  you  what  you  do,  for  truly  I  am  seilt 
of  God.  You  put  yourself  in  great  danger.  Yes,  I  am 
come  from  God.  I  have  nothing  to  do  here.  Send  me 
back  to  God  from  whom  I  came."  They  tried  to  make  her 
say  that  the  Voices  had  inspired  her  with  unchristian 
feeliners. 


'&'- 


"Were  the  inhabitants  of  Domremy  Burgundians  *? "  — 
"  There  was  only  one  Burgundian  in  the  village ;  and  I  could 
have  wished  that  his  head  were  cut  off,  provided  it  was  the 
will  of  God." 

"  Did  the  Voices  tell  you  you  ought  to  hate  the  Burgun- 
diansV  —  "I  did  not  love  them  so  well  after  I  found  that  the 
Voices  were  for  the  King  of  France." 

"Did  you  have  a  great  desire  to  injure  the  Burgundians'?" — 
"  I  had  a  great  desire  and  wish  that  the  King  should  have  his 
kingdom  again,"' 

"  Do  you  think  j^ou  did  well  in  leaving  home  without  the 
consent  of  your  father  and  mother?"  —  "They  have  forgiven 
me." 

"Do  you  think,  then,  that  you  did  not  sin  in  acting  soV  — 
"  If  God  commanded  me,  ought  I  uot  to  have  done  it  1  Though 
I  had  a  hundred  fathers  and  mothers,  I  would  have  left  them 
if  God  had  ordered  it." 

There  is  a  certain  kind  of  religion  which  can  believe  in 
the  Devil  and  evil  spirits  much  more  readily  than  in  the 
inspiration  of  God  and  in  good  angels.  Thus,  though 
these  judges  thought  it  incredible  that  Jeanne  should  have 
seen  Michael  and  the  saints,  they  deemed  it  quite  probable 
that  she  should  have  had  intercourse  with  fairies  and  evil 
spirits.  They  tried  to  make  her  say  that  she  had  talked 
with  fairies  under  the  May-tree ;  but  she  replied  that 
others  had  declared  they  had  seen  them  there,  but  for 
herself  she  had  never  seen  any. 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  105 

Jeanne  admitted  that  many  people  who  had  the  fever 
visited  the  May-tree  and  (hank  of  the  neighboring  foun- 
tain, but  she  did  not  know  whetlier  they  were  cured  or 
not.  She  had  heard  some  old  people  say  they  saw  fairies 
under  the  tree,  but  whether  it  was  true  she  did  not 
know. 

"Did  you  not  tell  the  soldiers  that  you  would  turn 
aside  the  English  arrows?"  —  "I  only  told  them  not  to 
be  afraid ;  but  many  were  wounded  at  my  side,  and  I  was 
wounded  myself."  They  asked  her  if  she  had  ever  been 
where  she  saw  the  En<dish  killed.  "  Who  of  us  has  not 
seen  war  ?  liut  of  such  sad  things  let  us  speak  softly  and 
with  a  low  voice."  An  English  nobleman  present  was 
touched  by  the  reply,  and  said :  "  I  would  she  ^vere  an 
Englishwoman." 

"Was  it  well  done  to  attack  Paris  on  our  Lady's  Dayl"  — 
"  It  is  well  to  keep  the  festivals  of  our  Lady ;  it  would  be  well 
to  keep  them  every  day." 

"  Do  your  saints  hate  the  English  V  —  "  They  love  whatever 
God  loves,  and  hate  what  he  hates." 

"  Does  God  hate  the  English  r'  —  "  As  for  God's  love  or  hate 
for  the  souls  of  the  English,  I  know  nothing ;  but  I  know  that 
he  will  cause  them  all  to  be  driven  from  France,  except  those 
who  die  here." 

"Jeanne,  do  you  know  by  revelation  whether  you  will 
escape  1 "  —  "  This  has  nothing  to  do  with  your  trial.  Do  you 
wish  me  to  accuse  myself?" 

"  But  have  the  Voices  told  you  nothing  about  it  ? "  —  "  This 
does  not  concern  the  trial.  I  leave  the  matter  in  the  Lord's 
hands." 

After  all  their  examinations,  they  had  made  out  no  case 
against  her  as  regards  sorcery.  TJiai  they  were  obliged  to 
give  up.  The  only  points  of  any  weight  were  her  wearing 
a  man's  dre.^s,  and  refusing  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of 


196         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

the  Church.  To  wear  a  man's  dress  was  contrary  to  a  text 
in  Deuteronomy,  the  object  of  which  was,  no  doubt,  to 
promote  purity  of  manners  ;  but  her  object  in  wearing  this 
dress  was  the  same.  Did  they  not  see  that  in  committing 
her,  a  poor  chained  girl,  to  be  guarded  by  rude  soldiers, 
they  were  committing  a  much  greater  impropriety  ? 

But  the  real  point  of  the  accusation  consisted  in  the  con- 
flict between  the  authority  of  God,  speaking  in  her  heart, 
and  that  of  the  visible  Church. 

They  asked  her  if  she  would  submit  to  the  decision  of 
the  Church  as  to  whether  her  Voices  had  told  the  truth 
or  not,  and  let  the  Church  decide  on  all  her  words  and 
actions.  To  this  she  answered :  "  I  love  the  Church,  and 
would  support  it  with  all  my  power ;  but  as  to  my  works, 
I  must  leave  them  to  the  judgment  of  God  who  sent 
me." 

The  question  being  repeated,  she  replied,  with  the  an- 
swer always  suggested  to  a  true  soul  which  must  believe 
there  can  be  no  discord  or  variance  between  truth  and 
truth  :  "  Our  Lord  and  the  Church  are  all  one."  Then 
they  contrived  for  her  a  distinction,  in  order  to  induce  her 
to  reject  the  authority  of  the  visible  Church. 

They  told  her  there  was  a  distinction  between  the  Church 
Triumphant  above,  composed  of  God  and  the  saints,  and  the 
Church  Militant  below,  and  asked  her  to  which  she  sub- 
mitted. Of  course  she  answered :  "  To  the  Church  Tri- 
umphant." —  "  And  do  you  refuse  to  submit  to  the  Church 
Militant  ?"  —  "  T  will  answer  no  more  to-day." 

But  there  were  some  honest  men  among  the  counsellors, 
who  could  not  bear  this.  Three  of  them  had  the  boldness 
to  visit  her  in  her  prison,  and  to  tell  her  that  the  true 
Church  Militant  did  not  consist  of  her  enemies  but  of  the 
Pope  and  the  General  Councils,  and  that  she  might  thus 
take  an  appeal  from  her  prejudiced  judges  to  the  Council 


JEANNE  D'ARC.  197 

of  Basle,  tlieii  aljout  to  be  convened,  and  to  the  Tope.  One 
of  them  had  even  the  courage  to  advise  her  in  public,  before 
the  tribunal,  to  submit  to  the  Council  of  Basle.  "  What  is 
a  General  Council  ?  "  said  she.  "  It  is,"  said  Brother  Isam- 
bert,  "  a  congregation  of  the  Universal  Church,  and  is  com- 
posed of  your  friends  as  well  as  of  the  other  party."  "  Oli ! 
in  that  case,  I  submit,"  said  she.  "Be  silent!"  cried  the 
r)ishop,  to  Isambert,  and  forbade  the  notary  from  writing 
down  her  answer.  "  Alas ! "  said  the  poor  child,  "  you 
write  what  is  against  me,  but  not  what  is  for  me." 

The  question  and  answer  which  brought  out  the  absolute 
opposition  between  what  the  Roman  Church  required  and 
what  Jeanne  could  do,  is  from  the  record  of  March  31. 
The  question  put  to  her  was  this :  — 

"  Will  you  refer  yourself  to  the  judgment  of  the  Church  on 
this  earth,  for  all  yon  have  said  and  done,  good  or  bad  1  Espe- 
cially, will  you  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  Church  concerning 
all  the  charges  made  against  you  for  different  offences  and 
crimes,  and  in  regard  to  the  whole  of  the  present  Process  T' 

She  replied  :  "  As  to  all  that  is  required,  I  refer  myself  to  the 
judgment  of  the  Church  Militant,  provided  it  commands  nothing 
wiiich  I  am  unable  to  do  ;  and  I  consider  it  impossible  to  declare 
that  my  Voices  and  Revelations  have  not  come  from  God.  Noth- 
ing in  the  world  will  make  me  declare  this.  Whatever  God  causes 
me  to  do,  whatever  he  commands  or  shall  command,  —  that  I 
must  not  fail  to  do,  for  any  man  alive.  It  is  impossible  for  me 
to  take  back  this.  In  case  the  Church  wishes  me  to  do  any- 
thing contrary  to  the  commands  I  have  received  from  God,  I 
never  can  consent  for  anything  in  the  world." 

Then  it  was  asked  :  "  If  the  Church  Militant  declares  your 
Revelations  to  be  illusions,  or  to  be  diabolical,  will  you  submit 
to  the  Church  in  this  matter  1" 

She  answered  :  "  I  will  submit  to  God,  whose  commandments 
I  shall  always  obey.  I  know  that  the  matters  spoken  of  in  this 
Process  have  been  done  bv  the  order  of  God.     Whenever   I 


198  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

affirm  in  this  Process  that  I  have  acted  by  God's  order,  I  can 
never  deny  it.  If  the  Church  commands  the  contrary,  I  shall 
submit  to  no  one  in  the  world,  but  only  to  God,  whose  com- 
mands I  shall  always  obey." 

"  Ought  you  not  to  submit  to  the  Church  of  God  on  earth,  — 
that  is,  to  the  Pope  (our  Lord),  to  the  cardinals,  archbishops, 
bishops,  and  other  prelates  of  the  Church  1 "  —  "  Yes ;  I  do 
submit,  —  provided  that  God  is  obeyed  first." 

Jeanne  d'Arc  was  thus  in  the  same  position  before  this 
tribunal  that  Luther  was  before  the  Diet  of  Worms.  Her 
language  and  his  were  identical,  except  that  he  spoke  of 
the  Word  of  God  in  Scripture,  where  she  spoke  of  the 
Voice  of  God  in  her  soul.  Both  wished  to  obey  the 
Church ;  neither  wished  to  be  heretic  or  schismatic ;  but 
to  both  there  was  something  higher  than  the  Church. 
This  was  God,  speaking  to  the  soul  or  speaking  in  the 
Scripture.  "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters,"  says  Jesus. 
We  may  indeed  serve  two  masters  so  long  as  their  com- 
mands do  not  differ ;  but  when  the  time  comes  that  they 
command  different  things,  we  must  then  choose  wdiich  to 
obey.  The  time  came  to  Jeanne  when  the  Church  said : 
"  Deny  the  Voice  of  God  in  your  heart."  The  time  came 
to  Luther  when  the  Church  said :  "Deny  the  Word  of  God 
ir  the  Bible."  Then  both  became  virtually  Protestants, 
and  obeyed  the  higher  law  as  against  the  lower  one. 
The  girl  of  Domremy  was  a  Protestant,  —  before  the  Eef- 
ormation. 

After  the  examinations  were  concluded,  the  Bishop 
selected  twelve  articles  from  what  he  chose  to  consider 
the  answers  of  Jeanne,  and  sent  them  to  the  principal  doc- 
tors and  ecclesiastical  tribunals  for  their  opinions.  They 
were  so  drawn  up  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  any  reply 
to  be  given  but  one  which  should  be  condemnatory.  The 
chief  point,  of  course,  was  her  refusal  to  submit  to  the  tri- 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  109 

bimal  of  tlie  Church  if  it  should  contradict  the  Voice  of 
God  in  her  own  soul.  She  was  therelnie  really  condemned 
as  a  Protestant.  They  also  condemned  her  fur  weariiiL,^ 
men's  clothes,  and  for  believing  in  revelations  which  prob- 
ably came  from  evil  spirits. 

The  English  were  now  impatient  that  she  should  be 
Inirned.  About  this  time  she  fell  sick,  and  the  great  Earl 
of  Warwick  was  mucli  alarmed  lest  slie  should  die  a 
natural  death. 

"  You  must  cure  her,"  said  he.  "  The  King  has  bought 
her.  She  must  be  burned  !  You  must  not  let  her  die  ! " 
This  Earl  of  Warwick  was  exactly  the  brave  and  gallant 
knight  of  that  age,  the  perfect  gentleman,  full  of  all  chiv- 
alrous ideas.  He  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land, 
not  missing  a  tournament  by  the  way.  He  gave  a  tour- 
nament himself  at  the  gates  of  Calais,  challenging  the 
whole  chivalry  of  France.  And  yet  he  manifested  this 
rancor  against  a  woman,  who  had  so  deeply  wounded 
English  pride. 

That  a  girl  had  so  frightened  them,  driven  them  half  the 
length  of  France,  taken  them  in  their  fortresses,  and  con- 
quered them  in  the  field,  —  this  was  intolerable.  Nothing 
but  burning  her  alive  could  satisfy  the  vengeance  of  Eng- 
lish pride  thus  severely  mortified.  ^ 

This  was  in  Passion  Week  and  they  refused  her  the 
sacraments.  The  object  of  tlie  Bishop  was  to  make  her 
submit  to  the  Church,  and  confess  that  her  visions  were 
deceptive.  After  that  he  did  not  care  what  became  of  her. 
He  therefore  tried  all  means  to  induce  her  to  submit ; 
threatening  her  with  torture  and  fire  if  she  refused ;  prom- 
ising her  the  mercy  and  protection  of  the  Church  if  slie 
submitted.      But  day  after  day  the  heroine  stood  firm. 

1  "In  everything  else  the  English  can  be  noble  and  generous,"  says 
Michelet  ;  "not  when  their  national  pride  is  wounded." 


200    EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

Deprived  of  the  outward  consolations  of  religion,  she  fed 
on  hidden  manna. 

"'  For  uij  faith,'"  said  she,  "  I  submit  to  the  Church  below  ;  for 
my  acts,  I  will  submit  only  to  the  Church  of  Heaven.  I  would 
rather  die  than  revoke  what  1  have  done  by  the  Lord's  com- 
mands." 

"  But  you  cannot  hear  Mass  on  Good  Friday,  except  you 
submit."  —  "  Our  Lord  can  let  me  hear  it  without  you." 

'•'  Will  you  submit  to  the  Church  Militant  T'  —  "  Provided  it 
does  not  command  what  is  impossible." 

"  Do  you  not  think  you  ought  to  obey  the  Pope  and  the 
bishops,  and  the  Universal  Church  T'  —  "Yes,  our  Lord  being 
first  obeyed." 

"  Do  your  Voices  forbid  you  to  submit  to  the  Church  Mili- 
tant ] "  —  "  They  do  not,  our  Lord  being  obeyed  first." 

Finally,  on  May  24,  1431,  they  prepared  a  public  dis- 
play. Two  scaffolds  wttc  erected.  The  cardinals,  bishops, 
and  doctors  seated  on  one,  and  Jeanne  on  the  other,  with 
the  executioner  and  priests.  The  English,  assembled  in 
crowds,  believed  that  she  was  to  be  burned ;  but  the  object 
of  the  Bishop  was  to  get  a  public  abjuration  from  her. 
She  long  refused  to  sign  anything,  but  being  threatened 
with  immediate  death  by  burning  if  she  refused,  and  being 
promised  pardon  and  protection  if  she  consented,  and  being, 
moreover,  exhausted  by  the  long  discussions  and  argu- 
ments, she  finally  agreed  to  sign  a  short  form  of  abjura- 
tion, in  which  she  submitted  to  the  Church,  and  confessed 
that  her  Voices  might  have  deceived  her.^    Then  they  sub- 

1  Precisely  what  she  abjured  cannot  be  known.  It  is  certain  that  the 
abjuration  which  she  signed  was  very  short.  She  was  exhausted  by  her 
long  struggle,  and  by  the  prayers,  threats,  and  instructions.  She  said  at 
last:  *'  I  submit  to  the  Church."  Massieu  read  to  her  the  form  of  abjura- 
tion, which  he  afterwards  declared  to  contain  not  more  tlian  eight  lines. 
Pierre  Miget  said  it  was  about  the  length  of  a  Pater  Noster.  The  greffier 
Taquel,  who  stood  close  to  hei-,  said  there  were  about  six  lines,  in  large 


JEANNE   D'ARC. 


201 


stituted  another  and  much  longer  form,  previously  pre- 
pared. The  English  were  furious,  and  began  to  throw 
stones  at  the  Bishop.      They  shouted:    "You  have   not 


Plate  XVIII.  —  Abbey  of  St.  Ouen. 


earned  the  King's  money ;  you  are  going  to  let  her  escape." 
Warwick  said,  "  Things  go  badly  if  she  escapes."  "  Never 
mind,"  said  the  holy  man ;  "  we  will  soon  have  her  again." 

letters;  and  Massieu  positively  declared  that  the  abjuration  inserted  in 
the  Process,  in  which  she  confesses  herself  to  be  an  impostor  and  blas- 
pliemcr,  denying  God  and  the  sacramonts,  was  7iol  tliat  which  Jeanne 
signed,  but  one  substituted  afterwards. 

This  abjuration  took  place  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Ouen,  near  the  beau- 
tiful church  of  that  name.  Our  illustration  (Plate  XV III.),  which  is  a  little 
imperfect,  shows  the  place  where  the  two  scafTi)lds  were  erected,  in  the 
left-hand  corner,  near  the  church.  She  signed  the  abjuration  on  this  spot, 
May  24,  1431,  and  retracted  it  four  days  after. 


202  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

They  pronounced  her  pardon,  which  was  a  sentence  of  per- 
petual imprisonment ;  and  then,  instead  of  committing 
her  to  the  guardianship  of  the  Church,  sent  her  back  to 
the  English  prisons. 

Having  thus  made  a  partial  submission  to  the  Church, 
she  resumed  her  female  dress  in  obedience  to  its  com- 
mands. But  it  had  been  arranged  that  she  should  not 
so  escape.  Having  been  received  by  the  Church  to  peni- 
tence, and  absolved  from  the  excommunication,  she  had 
expected  to  be  set  at  liberty.  Erard,  the  preacher,  who 
had  obtained  her  abjuration,  had  promised  that  she  should 
be  delivered  from  prison.  As  she  had  been  condemned 
to  perpetual  imprisonment  as  a  salutary  penance  "  on 
the  bread  of  grief  and  water  of  anguish,"  she  had  a 
right  to  demand  that  confinement  to  be  in  the  prisons  of 
the  Church.  Several  suggested  this  to  the  Bishop,  and 
Jeanne  said :  "  Men  of  the  Church,  carry  me  to  your 
prison,  so  that  I  shall  not  be  any  more  in  the  hands  of  the 
English  ! "  But  such  was  not  the  Bishop's  intention.  He 
said  :  "  Take  her  back  to  the  place  where  you  found  her,"  — 
thus  showing  himself  to  be  only  an  accomplice  of  the  Eng- 
lish. Insults  were  offered  her  in  her  cell.  She  was  chained 
as  before.  Her  woman's  dress  was  said  by  some  witnesses 
to  have  been  taken  away  during  her  sleep.  At  all  events, 
they  must  purposely  have  left  the  man's  dress  where  she 
could  get  it ;  and  this  was  no  doubt  done  to  tempt  her  to 
put  it  on  again.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  she,  "  you  know  I  am 
forbidden  to  wear  that."  But  at  last,  either  having  no 
other,  or  feeling  more  secure  in  the  soldier's  garb,  she  put 
it  on.  Then  they  cried  out :  "  She  is  taken."  The  judges 
came  ;  they  would  not  listen  to  her  complaints  and  excuses. 
"  Put  me  among  women,"  said  she,  "  and  I  will  wear  a 
woman's  dress."  They  proceeded  to  examine  her  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Why  have  you  again  worn  your  man's  dress  ? "  — 


JEANNE   D'AUC.  203 

"  Because  it  is  more  proper  to  wear  a  iiiau's  dress  than  a 
woman's  when  I  am  among  men."  She  added  that  she 
had  a  right  tu  wear  it  again,  since  tliey  had  nut  kept  tlieir 
promises  to  let  her  go  to  Mass  and  to  take  ofV  the  irons 
from  her  hnibs. 

"  You  abjured  your  errors,  and  promised  not  to  wear  the 
man's  dress  again." — "I  had  rather  die  than  be  thus  chained; 
but  if  you  will  take  ofl'  the  irons  and  let  me  go  to  Mass,  put 
me  in  a  good  prison  and  let  me  have  a  woman  with  me,  I 
will  be  good  and  do  what  the  Church  commands." 

Then  the  Judge,  wishing  to  find  some  basis  for  the  charge 
of  "  relapse,"  asked  her  if  she  had  heard  her  Voices  again, 
since  Thursday,  the  day  of  abjuration.  Without  attempt- 
ing to  escape  the  snare,  she  promptly  answered :  "  Yes."  — 
'*  And  what  did  they  say  to  you  ? "  She  answered,  — 
and  here,  on  the  margin  of  tlie  original  manuscript  (See 
Plate  XIX.)  are  written  the  words  Eesponsio  mortifera, 
"  The  answer  which  caused  her  death  : "  —  "  God  has  taught 
me,  by  St.  Catherine  and  St.  Margaret,  that  I  have  com- 
mitted a  sad  treachery  in  abjuring  to  save  my  life ;  that 
I  damned  myself  to  save  my  life."  She  added  that  her 
Voices  had  told  her  what  to  do  that  day,  to  answer  the 
preacher  boldly  from  the  scaffold,  for  he  was  a  fake 
preacher.  She  said  :  "If  I  should  admit  that  God  did  not 
send  me  I  should  damn  myself.  It  is  true  that  God  sent 
me.  My  Voices  have  told  me  that  I  did  very  wrong  in 
confessing  that  what  I  have  done  was  not  well  done." 

The  clerk  who  wrote  down  her  answers  adds  that  she 
said  that  she  put  on  the  man's  dress  to  protect  her  mod- 
esty. The  judges  then  decided  that  she  should  be  deliv- 
ered over  to  the  secular  arm,  to  die. 

When  this  cruel  death  by  fire  w^as  announced  to  her,  her 
woman's  nature  gave  way.  She  began  t(j  weep  bitterly 
and  tear  her  hair.    "Alas!  shall  my  body  be  burned,  which 


204         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 


Plate  XIX.  — Last  answer  of  Jeanne. 


..JiiMH*'  ^fiC^iO-  l^  jpA<7X/t7tH  ^M*Amr  ^SU»^  BcSu^ 


lO 


Last  answer  of  Jeanne,  in  which  she  recalls  her  abjuration,  and  so 
becomes  a  "relapsed  heretic."  The  words  are  these:  Interrogata  qnid 
sibi  dixerunt;  respondit  quod  Deus  raandavit  sibi,  per  sanctas,  Katherinam 
et  Margaretam,  magnam  pietatem  illius  grandis  proditionis  in  quam  ipsa 
Johanna  consenserat,  faciendo  abjurationem  et  revocationem  pro  salvando 
suani  vitam;  et  quod  ipsa  se  damnaverat  pro  salvando  vitam  suam.  Item 
dixit  quod,  ante  diem  jovis,  voces  suie  sibi  dixenint  illud  quod  ipso  illo  die 
faceret  et  quod  protuni  ipsa  fecit.  Dixit  ultro  quod  voces  suae  sibi  dixe- 
runt, quando  erat  in  scafaldo  sen  ambone,  coram  populo,  quod  audacter 
responderet  illi  pra^dictatori,  qui  tunc  prredicabat,  dicebatque  eadem  Jo- 
hanna quod  erat  ille  falsus  preedicator  et  quod  plura  dixerat  earn  fecisse 
quae  ipsa  non  fecerat.  Item  dixit  quod,  si  ipsa  diceret  quod  Dens  non 
mississet  eam,  ipsa  damnaret  se,  et  quod  veraciter  Deus  ipsam  misit. 

Affirm  o  ut  supra. 

BOSEGUILLAUME. 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  205 

I  have  preserved  pure  and  uncorrupt  ?  I  had  rather  be 
beheaded,  seven  times  over,  than  be  burned." 

"  O  Itouen,  Kouen,  must  I  die  here  ? "  said  she  on  her 
way  to  execution.  It  was  at  nine  in  the  morning,  May  30, 
1431,  that  slie  set  out  for  the  scaffold,  after  having  taken 
the  communion,  by  permission  of  tlie  liishop.  Remorse, 
pity,  grief,  were  taking  possession  of  men's  minds,  more 
and  more,  on  one  side,  —  a  corresponding  rage  increasing 
on  the  other.  Tliose  wlio  sliowed  the  least  sympathy  for 
her  fate  were  in  innninent  peril  from  the  English ;  never- 
theless, they  continued  to  show  it. 

Let  us  mention  the  names  of  three  friends  who  staid 
with  her  to  the  last,  —  Brother  L'Advenu,  Brother  Isam- 
bert,  and  one  of  tlie  secretaries,  Massieu.  All  three  had 
been  threatened  by  the  English  for  having  given  her  their 
advice,  and  manifested  pity  for  her  during  the  trial.  As 
she  passed  on,  her  sweet  face  yet  wet  with  a  woman's 
tears,  the  people  aloni^  tlie  streets  wept  likewise.  The 
priest  who  had  falsely  ])retended  to  be  her  friend  in  the 
prison  in  order  to  betray  her  confidence,  repenting,  burst 
through  the  guards,  flung  himself  down  before  her,  accus- 
ing himself  aloud  of  his  treachery,  and  imploring  her  par- 
don and  God's.  If  Warwick  had  not  interfered,  he  would 
have  been  instantly  killed. 

They  preached  a  sermon  as  the  introduction  of  this 
fearful  ceremony.  At  its  close,  she  wept  and  besought 
forgiveness  of  all,  forgiving  their  wrongs  again.st  herself 
and  begging  them  to  pray  for  her.  Ea'cu  the  hard-hearted 
Bishop,  even  the  cruel  English,  were  touched  and  could 
not  refrain  from  tears ;  but  not  the  less  did  tlie  Bishop 
proceed  to  pronounce  the  sentence :  "  We  cut  you  off  from 
the  Church  as  a  relapsed  penitent,  as  a  rotten  member ; 
we  give  you  over  to  the  secular  power,  entreating  it  to 
moderate  its  sentence  and  spare  you  the  pain  of  death  and 


206  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

mutilation  of  limb."  ^  Kissing  the  cross  which  an  English 
soldier  had  given  her,  she  ascended  the  wooden  pile  raised 
on  a  foundation  of  plaster,  and,  looking  on  the  city  and 
silent  multitude  beneath  her,  cried  again :  "  0  Eouen, 
Eouen !  I  fear  me  much,  thou  wilt  have  to  suffer  for  my 
death."  The  executioner  applied  the  fire.  She  saw  it  and 
shrieked.  The  priest  who  stood  by  her  did  not  pay  atten- 
tion to  the  flames.  Then,  forirettiuo;  herself,  she  be""g:ed 
him  to  go  down. 

While  the  flames  began  to  roll  up  around  her,  she  first 
cried  out  for  water ;  then  she  cried  on  God,  and  finally  said, 
"  My  Voices  have  not  deceived  me."  In  the  midst  of  the 
flames  she  saw  that  the  safety  and  deliverance  they  had 
promised,  were  not  deliverance  from  death,  but  that  of  her 
soul.  God  no  doubt  then,  as  in  a  thousand  instances, 
gave  her,  at  the  moment  of  death,  an  inward  light  and 
strength  which  "  quenched  the  violence  of  the  fire."  Her 
last  words  were,  "  Jesus  !  —  Jesus  ! " 

All  this  is  testified  by  the  priest  who  had  just  de- 
scended from  tlie  pile.  "  She  finished  her  prayer  in 
heaven,"  says  Wallon.  Even  the  soldiers  were  melted. 
These  rude  men-at-arms  cried :  "  We  are  lost ;  we  have 
burned  a  saint.  Would  God,  my  soul  were  where  hers  is 
now ! "  Some  tried  to  laugh.  One  man  had  sworn  he 
would  throw  a  fagot  on  the  pile.  As  he  approached,  her 
voice,  crying  on  Jesus,  reached  his  ear.  He  was  taken  ill, 
almost  fainted,  and  was  carried  to  a  neighboring  tavern. 
"  I  saw  a  dove  escape  from  her  mouth,"  said  he.  The 
executioner  went  in  utter  dismay  to  Brother  Isambert  to 
confess.  He  could  not  believe  that  God  would  forgive 
him. 

In  1450  measures  were  taken  for  revising  this  Process. 

1  This  conventional  hypocrisy  was  uttered  in  full  view  of  the  stake 
where  she  was  to  be  immediately  bui'ned. 


JEANNE   D'ARC.  207 

111  1456  a  Court  of  Revision  appointed  by  Pope  Calixtus 
III.  pronounced  the  charges  against  Jeanne  to  be  utterly 
false. 

And  now,  in  considering  her  life,  and  asking  for  the 
secret  of  her  wonderful  j^erfurmances,  we  see  that  the  source 
of  her  power  was,  that  she  could  inspire  others,  by  her 
words  and  her  spirit,  with  a  confidence  in  her  mission,  and 
that  she  could  do  this  because  her  own  faith  was  so  strong. 
Her  faith  was  strong  because  it  had  grown  up  by  silent 
meditation  and  prayer,  in  a  mind,  pure,  single,  devout. 
Eminently  and  remarkably  does  she  belong  to  that  heroic 
band  "  who  tlu'ough  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought 
righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouth  of 
lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  out  of  weakness  were 
made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the 
armies  of  the  aliens."  Literally  she  fulfilled  almost  every 
clause  of  this  description,  and  all  by  the  strength  and 
dei)th  of  her  own  conviction. 

Thus  far  all  is  plain.  But  we  must  also  ask,  —  was  this 
faith  purely  subjectiv^e  ?  Had  it  no  outward  object  ?  In 
other  words,  were  her  visions  realities,  or  were  they  the 
creations  of  her  own  mind  ?  On  the  one  hand  we  feel  a 
reluctance  to  admit  the  reality  of  such  appearances,  which 
"  live  no  longer  in  the  faith  of  reason."  They  seem,  too, 
both  in  themselves  and  in  what  they  tell  her  to  do,  to 
have  been  created  naturally  b}^  the  thoughts  and  the  belief 
already  in  her  mind. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  difficult  to  explain  a  power 
which  produced  such  immense  results  as  coming  from 
mere  imagination.  Could  so  strong  a  faith  rest  on  a  de- 
lusion ?  Could  she  continue  for  so  many  years  firm  in  the 
belief  that  she  had  daily  intercourse  with  these  angels,  if 
there  was  no  foundation  for  it  whatever  ? 

This  question  must  for  the  present  remain  a  problem,  — 


208        EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

perhaps  forever.  The  squire  of  La  Pucelle,  Daulon,  hav- 
ing asked  to  see  the  angels  and  saints  who  appeared  to  her, 
she  told  him  that  he  was  "  not  good  enoiigh  to  see  them." 
Neither  are  we  good  enough.  These  visions  are  unintelli- 
gible to  us,  and  constitute  a  secret  between  this  girl  and 
her  God. 

Within  a  few  years  many  attempts  have  been  made  by 
leading  French  ecclesiastics  to  procure  the  canonization 
of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  by  the  Pope.  Pio  Nono,  it  is 
thought,  was  not  averse  to  this.  Bishop  Dupanloup  ex- 
erted himself  strongly  in  the  same  direction.  Let  us  hope, 
however,  it  will  not  be  done.  Nothing  can  make  her  more 
saintly  than  she  is  already.  To  surround  her  with  a  cloud 
of  panegyric  and  legendary  miracles,  will  only  veil  from 
our  eyes  the  simple  beauty  and  grandeur  of  her  character. 
Considering  also  that  it  was  a  Church  court  which  sent 
her  to  the  stake,  it  would  remind  us  too  much  of  the  say- 
ing of  Jesus  concerning  those  who  build  the  tombs  of  the 
prophets  and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous,  only 
bearing  witness  thereby  to  the  fact  that  they  are  the  chil- 
dren of  those  who  slew  the  prophets. 

There  have  been  several  monographs  published  on  the 
portraits  and  statues  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans.  One  of 
these,  printed  only  last  year  (by  M.  Bouteiller  and  M.  De 
Breaux),  says  there  are  two  ancient  statues  of  the  heroine, 
—  one  in  the  Museum  of  Cluny,  the  other  at  Domremy. 
That  in  the  Museum  of  Cluny  is  of  wood,  and  probably 
copied  from  one  which  was  in  the  Cathedral  of  Toul  in 
1610.  But  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  any  authentic 
portrait  of  the  Maid  now  exists.  Nor  are  the  attempts 
of  sculptors  and  painters  to  reproduce  her  face  very  suc- 
cessful. They  either  want  depth  of  expression,  or  they 
show  us  a  look  of  discouragement  and  sadness,  instead  of 
the  fire  and  power  and  hope  which  must  have  come  from 


JEANNE   D'AKC.  209 

her  inward  inspiration.  Such  a  foiluru  looking  woman  as 
appears  in  some  of  these  portraits  could  never  have  accom- 
plished the  deliverance  of  Fmnce.  There  was  in  her  ex- 
pression seriousness,  no  doubt,  but  only  a  countenance 
radiant  with  hope  could  have  produced  and  sustained  such 
hope  in  others. 

Dr.  Ilirzel  in  a  recent  study  on  the  Maid  of  Orleans 
("Johanna  d'Arc,"  by  Dr.  Hirzel ;  Berlin,  1877),  has  col- 
lected the  scattered  testimonies  to  her  personal  appearance 
and  united  them  in  this  portrait,  in  which,  however,  he 
emi)hasizes  too  strongly  this  supposed  melanclioly. 

"  Jeanne  had  a  well  proportioned  figure,  slender  but  not  too 
thin,  above  the  usual  height.  She  was  capable  of  enduring 
great  fatigue,  and  displayed  much  muscular  strength.  Her 
face  was  fresh  and  oval ;  her  forehead  neither  low  nor  high  ; 
her  large  eyes,  of  a  clear  brown,  had  an  expression  of  melan- 
choly which  gave  them  an  extraordinary  charm  ;  her  eyebrows 
slightly  arched ;  her  nose  straight  and  well  modelled ;  her 
mouth  small;  her  lips  red  and  not  very  large.  Her  chin  was 
also  small  and  a  little  pointed  ;  her  complexion  clear  white ; 
her  hair  dark  chestnut,  flowing  in  masses  over  her  very  white 
neck.  Her  ft\ce  expressed  candor,  innocence,  and  a  slight 
sadness;  her  voice  was  sweet  and  feminine;  her  language  dig- 
nified, conveying  noble  sentiments  and  much  sagacity.  In 
common  life  she  spoke  little,  but  became  eloquent  when  speak- 
ing of  her  mission.  Although  placed  above  the  weakness  of 
her  sex  by  her  immense  energy  of  character,  her  sensibility 
and  tendency  to  weep  were  not  impaired  by  all  her  experiences 
in  war." 

It  has  repeatedly  happened  that  after  the  death  of  any 
person  who  has  deeply  moved  the  popular  mind,  a  belief 
has  prevailed  that  he  was  still  alive,  and  would  reappear. 
This  belief  has  often  induced  impostors  to  come  forward, 
pretending  to  be  that  very  person.     So  it  was  in  the  case 

u 


210  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

of  Jeanne  d'Arc.  A  false  Jeanne  d'Arc  appeared  in 
1452,  twenty-one  years  after  her  execution,  claiming 
to  be  the  real  Maid  of  Orleans.  She  wore  a  man's  dress, 
went  about  amusing  herself  and  feasting,  and  imposed 
on  many.  An  account  of  this  is  given  in  Octave  Dela- 
pierre's  work  on  "  Historic  Difficulties ; "  and  is  well 
discussed  by  Mr.  John  Fiske  in  bis  book  called  "  The 
Unseen  World." 

I  think,  however,  that  both  these  writers  treat  the 
question  too  seriously.  It  is  a  manifest  impossibility 
that  Jeanne  d'Arc,  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
English  by  the  sentence  of  the  court,  could  ever  have  es- 
caped. She  was  guarded  by  English  soldiers.  The  English 
thirsted  for  her  blood.  Warwick,  who  was  determined 
that  she  should  be  burned,  was  present  during  all  the  last 
moments  of  her  life.  Who  would  have  dared  to  substitute 
any  one  else  in  her  place  and  what  motive  could  they  have 
for  doing  so  ?  Some  one  certainly  w^as  burned.  If  not 
Jeanne,  who  was  it  ?  Did  any  one  consent  to  be  a  martyr 
in  order  to  save  her  ?  The  whole  story  bristles  with 
impossibilities. 

But  there  was  another  young  girl,  inspired  by  her  ex- 
ample, who  would  willingly  have  imitated  her.  A  grand- 
niece  of  Jeanne  d'Arc,  daughter  of  Claude  de  Lys,  an 
amiable  young  girl,  was  the  living  picture  of  her  aunt. 
Brought  up  in  the  house,  surrounded  by  memories  of 
her,  she  thought  herself  destined  to  continue  her  career. 
Dressed  in  men's  clothes,  she  exercised  herself  in  the  use 
of  arms  and  became  a  perfect  equestrian.  She  was  ready 
to  show,  if  an  occasion  arose,  that  the  blood  of  Jeanne  was 
not  extinct;  but  the  occasion  never  came.  She  married 
and  lived  a  quiet  life. 

With  one  remark  more  we  will  close  this  story.  Here, 
in  Jeanne,  we  see  with  what  grace  and  virgin  purity  a 


JEANNE    D'AKC.  211 

woman  can  occupy  any  sphere  which  appears  to  her  to 
be  that  of  duty. 

The  French  Chronicles  are  continually  noticing  with 
wonder  how,  amidst  tlie  violence  of  war  and  the  rudeness 
of  her  enemies,  she  preserved  the  virtues  of  a  woman,  even 
to  the  clear  and  keen  perceptions  which  characterize  the 
feminine  intellect.  ^ 

To  no  one  better  could  Wordsworth's  fine  lines  be  ap- 
plied than  to  her :  — 

"  I  saw  her  upon  nearer  view 
A  spirit,  yet  a  woman  too; 
Her  bou.sehokl  motions  light  and  free. 
And  step.s  of  virgin  liberty; 
A  countenance  in  which  did  meet 
Sweet  records,  promises  as  sweet; 
A  perfect  woman,  nohly  planned, 
To  warn,  to  comfort,  and  command, — 
And  yet  a  spirit  still,  and  bright 
With  something  of  an  angel  light." 

Though  the  most  brilliant  French  authors  have  embalmed 
the  memory  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  in  verse  and  prose, 
though  one  of  Schiller's  noble  dramas  is  devoted  to  her 
honor,  —  the  most  touching  tribute  to  her  memory  is  by 
an  American  poet,  Maria  Lowell 


PLACE   DE  LA  PUCELLE. 

Here  dwells  the  legend,  fed  hy  time  and  chance, — 

Fresh  as  the  morning,  though  in  centuries  old; 
The  whitest  lily  on  the  shield  of  France, 
With  heart  of  virj^in  gold. 

'  "It  was  fit,"  says  Michelet,  "that  tho  .savicr  of  France  should  be  a 
woman.  France  herself  is  a  woman.  She  has  the  fickleness  of  the  sex, 
but  also  its  amiable  ^'entleness,  its  facile  and  thai  mi ng  pity,  and  the  ex- 
cellence of  its  first  impulses." 


212  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

Along  this  square  she  moved,  sweet  Joan  of  Arc,  — 

With  face  more  pallid  than  a  day-lit  star 
Half-seen,  half-doubted;  while  before  her,  dark 
Stretched  the  array  of  war. 

Swift  curled  the  battle-smoke  of  lying  breath 

From  off  her  path,  as  if  a  wijid  had  blown,  — 
Showing  no  faithless  king,  but  righteous  death 
On  the  low  wooden  throne. 

He  would  reward  her.     She,  who  meekly  wore 

Alike  the  gilded  mail  and  peasant  gown, 
As  meekly  now  received  one  honor  more  — 
The  formless,  fiery  crown. 

A  white  dove  trembled  up  the  heated  air, 

And  in  the  opening  zenith  fomid  its  goal ; 
Soft  as  a  downward  feather  dropped  a  prayer 
For  each  repentant  soul. 

Certainly,  if  we  wished  to  express  the  whole  of  this 
story  in  one  line,  it  could  not  be  better  done  than  when 
we  call  her  — 

"  The  whitest  hly  on  the  shield  of  France." 


SAVONAKUL.V   AND  THE   KENAISS.VNCE.  213 


VII. 
SAVOXAEOLA  AND   THE   RENAISSANCE. 

§  1.  Changes  in  Europe  from  the  time  of  Jeanne  d'Arc 
to  that  of  Savonarola.  The  Renaissance.  —  Girolamo  (or 
Jerome)  Savonarola,  of  whose  life  and  times  we  are  next  to 
speak,  illu.strated  the  close  of  that  century,  the  commence- 
ment of  which  was  illuminated  by  Jeanne  d'Arc.  The  Ro- 
man Church  burned  her  in  Rouen,  May  30,  1431 ;  and  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Pope  caused  him  to  be  strangled  and 
burnt  May  23,  1498,  sixty-seven  years  after.  Both  were 
martyrs  to  the  Higher  Law,  because  they  would  obey  God 
rather  than  man ;  because  when  the  Church  ordered  them 
to  say  one  thing,  and  the  voice  of  God's  Truth  in  their 
souls  commanded  them  to  say  another,  they  refused  to 
obey  the  Church  and  preferred  to  obey  God.  Botli,  there- 
fore, were  Lutherans  before  Luther,  and  Protestants  before 
Protestantism.  Neither  had  any  quarrel  with  the  Church 
as  such.  Both  desired  to  Ije  its  faithful  and  obedient  ser- 
vants ;  both  believed  its  doctrines,  and  gladly  received  its 
sacraments ;  but  each  was  compelled,  by  the  awful  voice 
of  Conscience,  to  refuse  obedience  to  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Churcli. 

Jeanne  d'Arc  died  in  1431, —  Savonarola  in  1498.  What 
a  change  had  taken  place  in  those  sixty-seven  years !  The 
Middle  Ages  had    not  ceased   wlien  Jeanne  d'Arc   died. 


214         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

When  Savonarola  was  preaching,  that  New  Era  had  come 
which  we  call  the  Eenaissance.  During  that  interim  print- 
ing had  been  invented  and  Constantinople  had  been  taken 
by  the  Turks,  —  two  events  which  largely  contributed  to 
this  change  in  human  thought  and  in  the  tendencies  of 
modern  history. 

But  what  was  this  event,  wliich  we  call  the  Renaissance, 
or  New  Birth  ?  It  was  the  human  mind  changing  its 
master,  —  substituting  for  the  scholastic  mode  of  thinking 
the  way  of  thought  belonging  to  classic  antiquity,  and 
especially  to  Greece.  It  was  Greek  genius  suddenly  be- 
coming master  of  European  thought.  It  was  the  snapping 
of  cords  which  had  fettered  the  mind  during  many  centuries. 
It  was  not  any  revolt  against  church  dogmas  or  ceremo- 
nies, but  a  passing  over  old  boundaries  into  new  fields. 
It  was  no  insurrection  against  the  Church,  like  that  of 
Luther ;  it  was  simply  growing  indifferent  to  it,  in  a  new 
interest.  Nor  were  men  aware  that  their  new  ideas  were 
hostile  to  the  old  ones.  They  supposed  they  could  hold 
both  at  the  same  time  ;  belong  at  once  to  Plato  and  Peter  ; 
be  good  Catholics  and  also  good  Pagans ;  repeat  the  old 
creeds,  and  yet  get  their  faith  from  the  philosophers  and 
poets  of  Athens. 

Nor  w^ere  they  wholly  wrong ;  for  Greek  literature 
meant  a  revived  interest  in  human  nature  and  the  out- 
ward universe.  It  ^vas  the  love  of  seeing  everything  in 
us  and  around  us  with  our  own  eyes,  and  not  through 
the  magnifying  or  diminishing  optical  instruments  of  the 
theologians.  The  taking  of  Constantinople  in  1453  sent  a 
number  of  Greek  scholars  into  A¥estern  Europe,  and  espe- 
cially into  Italy.  For  the  first  time  for  long  centuries  the 
wonderful  literature  and  astonishing  history  of  Greece  were 
made  known  in  western  lands.  It  w^as  like  the  discovery 
of  a  new  world. 


SAVONAROLA   AND   TlIK    KIONAISSANCE.  215 

The  efiect  Wiis  felt  in  every  department  of  tliouj^'ht  and 
action.  Scholars,  \vriter.s,  thinkers,  turned  from  dis})utes 
about  Nominalism  and  llealism  to  the  noble  beauty  of 
Plato,  the  resounding  verse  of  Homer,  and  all  tlie  master- 
pieces of  Greek  literature.  Artists  were  awakened  by  the 
sight  of  ancient  monuments  to  new  creations  in  archi- 
tecture, sculpture,  and  painting.  Men  of  science  were 
aroused  to  stutly  the  universe  around,  above,  and  beneath 
them,  with  eyes  opened  to  the  day.  # 

Italy,  more  advanced  in  wealth  and  culture  than  any 
other  western  nation,  first  felt  this  wave  of  thought. 
Florence,  more  advanced  in  culture  than  the  rest  of 
Italy,  received  its  fullest  inlluence.  There  Dante  had 
lived,  there  Petrarch,  there  Boccaccio.  Dante  sang  to  the 
people  his  immortal  song  in  their  own  tongue  in  wliich 
they  were  born.  Petrarch  had  called  up  the  literature 
of  the  Old  World  as  a  solace  and  education  for  the 
human  race.  Boccaccio  had  described  the  earth  not  as  a 
vale  of  tears  but  as  a  scene  of  mirth  and  sunshine.  The 
world  was  a  beautiful  world ;  youth,  love,  and  life  were 
good,  and  to  be  enjoyed  with  thanksgiving.  Thus,  these 
three  prepared  the  way  for  the  great  revival. 

Some  preparation  also  had  been  made  by  the  fact  that 
both  Cicero  and  Virgil  were  regarded  in  tlie  Church  as 
almost  Christians,  —  Cicero  because  of  his  sound  moral 
teaching;  and  A^'irgil  because  of  his  Fourth  Eclogue,  in 
wliich  the  Sibyl  seems  to  be  using  the  very  language  of 
the  Hebrew  Pro]i]iets.  Indeed,  there  was  a  service  in 
Mantua,  for  St.  Paul's  Day,  in  which  a  liymn  was  sung 
e.\])ressing  St.  Paul's  feelings  on  being  shown  the  tomb  of 
Virgil  at  Naples  :  — 

"  Being  IlmI  to  the  mausoleum  of  Maro,  he  dropped  on 
it  the  dew  of  a  pious  tear  and  said  :   '  Wliat  a  Saint  could  I 


216         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS  IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTOKY. 

have  made  of  thee,  0  greatest  of  poets,  if  I  had  only  found 
thee  alive  ! '  "  ^ 

But  while  some  Latin  authors  continued  to  be  read  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  of  Greek  nothing  was  known.  Europe 
was  as  ignorant  of  the  treasures  of  Greek  Literature,  as  it 
was  a  hundred  years  ago  of  the  meaning  of  the  Egyptian 
Hieroglyphics.  About  the  very  time  that  the  taking  of 
Constantinople  sent  Greek  scholars  to  Italy,  the  invention 
ft'  printing  led  to  the  diffusion  of  books.  Manuscripts  had 
cost  too  much  to  be  common.  The  library  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Lucca,  in  the  ninth  century,  contained  only  nine- 
teen volumes,  and  that  was  thought  to  be  a  large  collection. 
As  books  were  a  luxury  for  nobles  and  princes,  bishops 
and  abbots,  they  were  made  very  costly  and  elegant, — 
beautifully  written  on  fine  vellum,  exquisitely  illustrated, 
bound  in  velvet  and  ivory,  the  covers  set  with  gold  and 
gems.  In  1469  two  books,  Josephus  and  Quintus  Curtius, 
sold  for  forty  ducats.  Poggio  sold  two  volumes  of  Jerome 
for  a  hundred  gold  florins. 

As  soon  as  the  taste  for  the  classics  had  set  in,  the  desire 
and  hope  of  finding  the  lost  writings  of  great  authors  was 
aroused.  As  men  search  for  nuggets  of  gold  in  California, 
so  the  scholars  of  the  Eenaissance  searched  all  the  monas- 
teries for  the  works  of  Cicero  and  Tacitus.  Boccaccio 
describes  going  to  Monte  Cassino,  and  being  shown  into 
the  library  where  the  books  were  lying  about  covered  with 
dust,  just  as  Mr.  Carson  found  them  not  long  ago  in  the 
convents  of  Mount  Athos.    These  books  had  been  torn  and 

*  "Ad  Maroms  mausoleum 
Ductus,  ftidit  super  eum 

Pise  roiem  Iaci7m0e  ; 
Qnem  te,  inquit,  reddidissem 
Si  te  vivum  invenissem, 

Poetarum  maxime  ! " 


SAVONAROLA   AND   THE   RENAISSANCE.  217 

cut  up  for  psalters  and  charms,  which  the  monks  sold  to 
women  and  children. 

At  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Constance,  Poggio 
searched  among  the  monasteries  of  Switzerland,  and  there 
found  a  perfect  copy  of  Quiutilian,  which  was  before  un- 
known. "  He  was  covered  with  dust,"  said  he,  "  and  tilthy 
with  neglect  and  age.  He  had  been  thrust  into  a  foul 
dungeon  at  the  foot  of  a  tower."  Poggio  copied  this  manu- 
script in  thirty-two  days,  and  sent  it  to  a  friend  who  re- 
ceived it  witli  intense  joy  and  gratitude.  "Through  you," 
said  he,  "we  now  possess  Quintilian  entire;  before  we  only 
had  half  of  him,  and  that  defective.  Oh,  unexpected  joy ! 
Shall  I  be  able  to  read  all  of  Quintilian  ? "  Poggio  also 
found  manuscripts  of  Lucretius,  Columella,  Silius  Italicus, 
and  other  writers.  In  one  place  he  discovered  one  of 
Cicero's  orations  which  was  before  unknown.  He  travelled 
over  Northern  Europe,  not  sparing  himself  any  exposure  to 
cold,  hunger,  or  fatigue.  Nor  did  he  shrink  from  stealing 
a  manuscript  if  it  seemed  necessary.  In  this  w^ay  he  ob- 
tained a  Livy.  He  wrote  a  book  lamenting  that  princes 
should  spend  their  money  in  any  other  way  than  in 
searching  for  old  manuscripts.  As  new  discoveries  were 
continually  made,  the  mine  seemed  exhaustless,  and  the 
possibility  of  finding  new  works  of  great  authors  appeared 
to  have  neither  limit  nor  end. 

In  all  this  work  Florence  led  the  way.  Rich  beyond 
any  other  city  in  the  world,  magnificent  for  her  great 
works  of  art,  she  was  also  the  sent  of  this  new  learning. 
Lorenzo  of  Medici  became  her  chief  executive  in  1469. 
He  was  then  twenty-two.  He  inherited  the  wealth  of  the 
great  banking-house  of  the  Medici.  He  was  a  shrewd 
politician,  a  learned  philosopher,  a  graceful  poet,  an  excel- 
lent Greek  scholar.  He  enjoyed  gayety  and  merriment, 
and  at  times  caroused  all   night  with   the  young  nobles. 


218         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

He  was  also  the  author  of  many  pious  hymns,  and  was  a 
profound  theologian.  One  of  his  hymns,  translated  by 
Eoscoe,  is  still  sung  in  our  churches.  The  first  lines  of 
this  hymn,  as  it  stands  in  our  books,  are :  — 

"  Let  one  loud  song  of  praise  arise 
To  God,  whose  goodness  ceaseless  flows." 

Yet  this  same  all-accomplished  gentleman,  who  spent  his 
fortune  on  literature  and  art,  whose  palace  was  the  cen- 
tre of  all  learned  men,  artists,  and  poets,  was  believed  by 
Savonarola  to  be  the  worst  enemy  of  the  liberties  of  Flor- 
ence ;  and  so  he  probably  was. 

What  long  summer  days  were  spent  in  Lorenzo's  villas 
on  the  sweet  banks  of  the  Arno,  wliere  Michel-Angelo 
and  Poliziano,  Pico  Mirandola  and  Fieino,  beguiled  the 
time,  unsphering  the  spirit  of  Plato,  or  letting  the  gorgeous 
tragedy  of  Greece  sweep  by,  or  bidding  the  soul  of  Orpheus 
sing  the  strains  which  drew  iron  tears  down  Pluto's  cheek. 

Thus  they  passed  the  golden  hours  till  the  sun  went 
down  behind  the  mountains  of  Carrara,  and  the  Apennines 
grew  purple  in  the  dying  day,  and  the  bright  Italian  stars 
came  out  above  the  softly  flowing  river.  Meantime  Savo- 
narola sat  in  his  cell,  brooding  over  the  crimes  of  the 
Church,  the  slavery  of  the  people,  and  the  terrible  judg- 
ments about  to  descend  on  Italy.  To-morrow  he  will 
preach  in  the  great  Duomo  to  a  vast  crowd,  and  sway 
them  with  his  tremendous  eloquence. 

The  great  study  at  this  time  in  Florence  was  of  the 
philosophy  of  Plato.  Marsilio  Fieino,  at  eighteen  years, 
had  been  set  apart  by  Cosmo  de  Medici  to  this  work.  A 
devout  Platonist  and  an  earnest  Catholic,  he  believed  that 
Socrates  and  Plato  were  both  prophets  who  foresaw  the 
coming  of  Christ.  When  he  was  forty-four,  he  had  trans- 
lated all  of  Plato  into  Latin,  and  the  first  edition  was 


SAVONAROLA    AND    THE    REN.USSANCE.  219 

printed  ill  1482.  Then  he  translated  the  later  Platonists. 
The  rich  nobles  of  Florence  gladly  bore  the  expense  of 
such  publications.  No  wonder  that  Plato  was  enjoyed  and 
loved,  for  he  shone  in  that  sky  like  "  Lucifer,  star  of  the 
morning."  lie  gave  a  religious  and  poetic  interpretation 
to  nature  and  life.  His  majestic  intellect,  combining  the 
vast  abstractions  of  the  East  with  the  subtle  logic  of 
Greece,  and  pouring  poetic  light  over  all  things,  was  like  a 
revelation  to  those  minds  which  had  been  fed  on  the  husks 
of  scholastic  learning.  Jowett  and  Grote  may  umlerstand 
Plato  far  better  than  the  Florentine  Academy,  but  they 
certainly  never  loved  him  as  much.  In  those  days  men 
burned  a  lamp  before  his  statue,  crowned  his  bust  with 
laurels,  celebrated  his  birthday  with  orations.  On  one  of 
these  birthdays,  we  are  told  that  the  members  of  this  Pla- 
tonic Club  in  Florence  first  i)artook  of  a  banquet  and  then 
discussed  the  Symposium  of  Plato,  —  each  member  of  the 
club,  in  turn,  reading  and  explaining  a  passage. 

One  young  man  there  was  at  these  meetings,  possessing 
charming  beauty,  noble  birth,  wonderful  intellect,  and 
accomplished  in  every  art,  —  the  prodigy  of  his  time, 
Pico  di  Mirandola.  He  was  philosopher,  linguist,  poet, 
logician,  mathematician  ;  and  excelled  in  all  these  depart- 
ments. He  had  studietl  Aquinas,  Scotus,  and  Averroes ; 
he  was  familiar  with  the  Jewish  Cabala.  His  memory 
was  so  pnxligious  that  he  went  to  Itome  in  140G  and 
})ublished  nine  hundred  theses  in  regard  to  all  questions 
of  philosophy,  from  which  he  challenged  any  Roman 
scholar  to  select  one,  he  being  ready  to  defend  it  without 
further  preparation.  A  line  from  one  of  his  letters  shows 
how  fully  he  believed  that  philosophy  and  Christianity 
were  one.  "Philosophy  seeks  truth;  Theology  finds  it; 
Itcligibn  possesses  it."  And  this  brilliant  intellect  also 
became  the  devoted  admirer  and  friencl  of  Savonai'ola. 


220         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTOiU  . 

Into  this  circle  came  the  wonderful  Alberti,  another 
universal  genius.  Physically  so  gifted  that  he  could  take 
a  standing  jump  over  the  head  of  the  tallest  man,  shoot 
an  arrow  through  the  thickest  armor,  fling  a  coin  over 
the  loftiest  church,  and  tame  with  his  magnetic  touch 
the  wildest  horse,  —  he  was  also  a  good  scholar,  musician, 
painter,  architect.  He  made  discoveries  in  optics,  im- 
proved perspective,  was  a  great  mechanic,  and  the  most 
fascinating  of  men  in  conversation.  He  so  loved  nature 
that  tears  came  to  his  eyes  as  he  walked  through  the 
fields. 

Nor  were  the  women  of  Florence  less  gifted  or  less 
scholarly.  The  daughter  of  the  Chancellor  exchanged 
Greek  epigrams  with  Poliziano,  who  so  fell  in  love  with 
her  Greek  that  he  wished  to  marry  her.  The  curious 
feature  of  this  rage  for  learning  was  that  it  was  found 
in  persons  of  all  qualities,  ranks,  and  characters.  Cruel 
tyrants  and  rude  soldiers  had  the  same  appetite  for  Greek 
books  and  h'terature  as  the  noble  ladies  and  philosophers 
of  the  Court  of  Lorenzo.  Subtle  and  bloody  despots 
would  murder  brother  or  friend  to  establish  their  power, 
and  then  devote  the  money,  gained  by  rapine,  to  found  a 
library.  Unbridled  license  and  accurate  learning  went 
easily  together.  The  nature  of  tliese  men  seemed  to  be 
full  of  all  kinds  of  forces,  good  and  bad,  depraved  and  yet 
refined.  Paganism,  in  its  worst  forms,  associated  itself 
with  Christian  faith.  The  old  rules  which  had  bound  men 
by  a  merely  external  authority  were  broken,  the  new 
rules  by  which  men  slioiild  become  a  law  to  themselves 
had  not  arrived,  —  tlierefore  all  was  wild  license.  "  In 
those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  and  every  man 
did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes." 

All  this  shocked  the  noble  heart  and  pure  conscience  of 
Savonarola.    While  to  others  a  better  and  more  divine  day 


SAVONAROLA   AND  THE   RENAISSANCE.  221 

seemed  about  to  dawn,  to  hi  in  the  corruption  of  the 
World  and  Church  apj^eared  to  be  growing  blacker  every 
hour. 

He  was  a  man  who  lived  in  a  Transition  Period  ;  but 
there  was  no  Transition  in  him.  In  sucli  a  time  most 
persons  are  neither  one  thing  nor  the  otlier ;  or  they  are 
sometimes  one  thing  and  sometimes  the  otlier ;  but  Savo- 
narola was  single  and  sincere  down  to  tlie  roots  of  his 
being ;  "  a  prophet,  yea  and  more  than  a  projihet."  He 
was  one  of  those  to  whom  the  eternal  law  of  rii-ht  was 
ever  present,  supreme,  —  the  Immanuel,  "  God  with  us." 
In  many  respects  he  resembled  Bernard.  Each  spoke  to  his 
age  out  of  convictions  foreign  to  the  age.  Eacli  drew  his 
moral  life  from  within,  not  from  without.  Both  were  able 
to  move  the  woild,  because  they  had  found  a  stand-p(jint 
outside  of  the  world.  In  easy  times  tliey  were  not  much 
loved,  but  in  difficult  hours  each  was  called  for,  and  each 
came  out  to  do  wliat  no  other  man  or  men  could  accom- 
plish. Too  austere  to  be  agreeable  to  the  lovers  of  worldly 
peace,  they  fascinated  all  the  better  natures  of  their  period, 
and  gathered  to  themselves  the  reverence  of  the  best. 

§  2.  Early  life  of  Savonarola.  His  preaching  in  Flor- 
ence.—  Girolamo  Savonarola  was  born  in  Ferrara,  Sept.  21, 
1452 ;  the  son  of  Nicholas  and  Helen.  His  grandfather, 
Michel,  was  a  distinguished  physician.  His  father  was 
inferior  to  his  mother,  who  was  a  woman  of  an  elevated 
nature  and  strong  mind.  Girolamo  was  taught  in  his 
childhood  by  liis  grandfather,  a  man  of  wisdom  and  expe- 
rience, who  bestf>we(l  the  most  affectionate  care  on  the 
training  of  his  favorite  grandson,  who  became  a  great 
student  of   Thomas   Aquinas  and  of  Aristotle. 

Ferrara  was  then  a  sjdendid  city,  containing  a  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  an  illustrious  court  which  re- 
ceived  visits   from   kings  and  emperors.      Nicholas   III., 


222  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Marquis  of  Este,  ruled  in  1402,  and  erected  the  splendid 
and  peculiar  tower  of  the  Cathedral.  The  family  of  Este 
steered  clear  of  the  wars  which  raged  around  them,  and 
were  called  the  Lords  of  Peace.  Those  who  see  the  empty 
streets  of  Ferrara  to-day  can  hardly  realize  what  a  focus 
of  wealth  and  activity  it  was  under  tliese  princes,  whose 
love  of  literature  and  art  have  been  immortalized  by  the 
glory  and  gloom  of  Tasso.  Nothing  could  exceed  the 
gorgeous  displays  in  Ferrara  on  public  occasions.  When 
the  Pope  passed  through  the  city,  the  river  Po  was  covered 
with  barges  dressed  with  flags,  bands  of  nmsic  played  on 
all  sides,  the  streets  were  strewn  with  flowers,  and  the 
houses  were  draped  with  cloth  of  gold. 

But  amid  all  this  gayety  and  splendor  Savonarola  grew 
up  sad.  He  spoke  little,  he  fasted  and  prayed,  spent 
hours  in  the  churches,  read  the  Bible  and  St.  Thomas, 
and  wrote  poems  on  such  themes  as  the  "  Euin  of  the 
World."  The  dark  side  of  nature  and  life  fascinated  him 
with  its  mystery  of  evil.  To  this  was  added  the  pain 
of  a  disappointment  in  love.  He  loved  the  daughter  of  a 
Florentine  exile,  but  was  refused  on  account  of  his  low 
birth. 

At  twenty- three  years  of  age  he  left  his  home  and  en- 
tered a  convent,  giving  as  a  reason  the  corruptions  of  the 
world.  In  the  convent  he  increased  his  fasts,  and  became 
so  emaciated  as  to  seem  rather  a  spectre  than  a  man.  All 
he  wished  was  to  obey  and  to  pray.  He  stayed  seven  years 
in  this  Dominican  convent  at  Bologna,  instructing  the 
novices ;  and  the  most  notable  fact  of  his  life  therein  was 
a  poem  written  on  the  "  Ruin  of  the  Church,"  in  which  he 
ascribes  its  misery  to  Eome,  calling  her  "  a  deceitful  and 
proud  harlot, "  and  saying  to  the  Church  :  "  Ah  !  lady  ! 
could  I  break  those  proud  wings  ! "  She  replies  :  "  Weep, 
and  be  silent." 


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SAVONAROLA   AND  THE   RENAISSANCE.  223 

Well  might  he  weep  over  the  wickedness  at  Iloiiie. 
Corruption  there  had  reached  its  height.  Yroni  the  death 
of  Pius  11.  iu  1404  began  that  scandalous  succession  of 
popes  which  reached  its  height  in  Alexander  VI.  Six- 
tus  IV.  obtained  tlie  papacy  by  bribes.  Having  secured 
it,  he  used  his  power  only  t(j  gratify  his  appetites  and 
to  exalt  his  family.  He  made  his  nephews  cardinals,  en- 
riched them  with  money  extorted  from  the  people,  and 
plunged  Italy  into  wars  in  order  to  obtain  for  them  princi- 
palities. His  favorite  nephew  he  made  Cardinal,  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  and  Archbishop  of  Florence ;  and  en- 
riched him  so  that  his  luxury  astonished  Europe,  —  he 
spending  on  banquets  and  festivals  two  hundred  thousand 
florins  in  a  year.  Innocent  VIII. ,  the  successor  of  Sixtus, 
sought  chiefly  to  enrich  his  seven  children.  Alexander 
VI.,  a  monster  of  w- ickedness  and  licentiousness,  succeeded 
by  poison  and  assassination  in  destroying  the  great  Roman 
families  of  Colonna,  Orsini,  and  Savelli,  and  taking  pos- 
session of  their  property  to  enrich  his  five  children.  He 
finally  died,  as  is  said,  of  poison  prepared  by  his  orders 
for  some  of  his  cardinals. 

Amid  such  horrors  as  these  Savonarola,  a  sincerely  re- 
ligious man,  grew  up  as  a  preacher  and  monk.  At  first  he 
was  unsuccessful  in  preaching,  and  utterly  failed  of  inter- 
esting his  hearers.  In  1482,  when  thirty  years  old,  he 
went  to  Florence  and  immediately  entered  the  Convent  of 
St.  ^lark,  where  he  was  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  and 
to  do  the  wcnk  which  made  him  immortal. 

Who,  tliat  has  ever  seen  Florence  will  not  assent  to  the 
epithet,  the  l>eautiful  City.  "  Beautiful  for  situation," 
says  the  Psalmist,  "  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,"  —  speak- 
ing of  Jerusalem.  So  sleeps  Florence,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Aruoat  the  foot  of  the  Apennines,  —  with  its  one  hundred 
and  seventy  churches,  and  having  in  the  midst  the  Cath- 


224         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

edral  Square,  with  the  great  Duomo,  the  tower  of  Giotto, 
and  the  Baptistery.  These  three  buildings  were  all  stand- 
ing, complete  as  now,  when  Savonarola  came  to  Florence. 
Michel-Angelo  said  of  this  lofty  dome  as  he  looked  at  it : 
"  I  will  not  make  one  like  you ;  I  cannot  make  one  better 
than  you ! "  Of  the  bronze  gates  of  the  Baptistery,  Mi- 
chel-Angelo said  that  they  were  "fit  to  be  the  Gates 
of  Paradise."  This  Piazza,  where  Dante  sat  in  his  old 
age  in  the  sun,  was  to  be  the  scene  of  the  triumphs  of 
Savonarola.  The  lovely  belfry  of  Giotto  was  to  call  the 
people  to  hear  his  sermons  in  the  great  Cathedral.  The 
painted  glass  windows,  which  are  there  now,  let  the  colored 
light  fall  on  the  forms  of  his  audience ;  for  they  date  from 
1434.  The  Campanile  was  built  in  1334.  The  Cathedral 
was  finished  in  1446,  and  the  gates  of  the  Baptistery  in 
1424.  Three  of  the  four  stone  bridoes  were  finished  in 
the  previous  century.  The  walls  bad  been  completed  a 
hundred  years ;  the  pavement  of  the  streets  two  hundred. 
When  the  Dominican  Friar  came  to  Florence  it  was  a  city 
filled  with  learned  men  and  women  and  with  great  artists ; 
renowned  for  its  wealth,  luxury,  and  splendor;  and,  to 
the  outward  eye,  prosperous  beyond  compare. 

While  Lorenzo  was  alternately  composing  sacred  hymns, 
and  songs  to  be  sung  at  tlie  masquerades ;  while  lie 
was  shedding  the  blood  of  every  patriot  who  opposed  his 
tyranny,  and  plundering  the  treasury  in  order  to  patronize 
authors  and  artists,  —  Savonarola  was  devoting  long  days  to 
the  study  of  the  Bible,  his  one  book.  Under  a  damask- 
rose,  grown  into  a  tree  in  the  garden  of  St.  Mark,  he 
lectured  at  first  only  to  the  monks.  Then,  as  others  came, 
he  went  into  the  convent  chapel ;  then,  as  strangers  began 
to  flock  to  hear  him,  he  went  to  the  Cathedral.  There  he 
preached  in  1491,  not  in  Latin  but  Italian,  so  that  all 
could  understand  him.    He  spoke  with  affectionate  warmth. 


SAVONAROLA   AND   THE   RENAISSANCE.  225 

and  in  a  friendly,  familiar  tone,  like  a  brother  speaking  to 
brethren.  He  would  begin  with  a  quotation  from  the 
r>il)le,  and  interpret  it  by  a  curious  system  of  his  own,  — 
giving  first  the  Literal  meaning  of  the  passage,  then  its 
Spiritual  sense,  then  its  Allegorical,  then  its  Moral,  and 
finally  what  he  called  the  Anagogical  interpretation  ;  which 
last  related  to  the  Church  Triumphant  in  Heaven.  Soon 
he  broke  away  from  these  subtleties,  and  rose  into  an  in- 
spired state.  He  seized  the  topic  of  the  hour,  the  state  of 
the  Church  and  the  World,  describing  the  sins  and  wrongs 
of  both  ;  and  from  the  l>ible  sought  terrible  prophecies  of 
danger  and  w^oe  unless  the  people  would  repent.  He 
denounced  the  sins  of  the  common  people,  such  as  gaming, 
avarice,  and  dishonesty.  The  two  ideas  which  possessed 
his  soul  were  Liberty  and  Righteousness.  The  people  of 
Florence  had  formerly  governed  themselves  ;  but,  as  in  old 
Rome  the  conflict  between  the  Plebeians  and  Patricians 
was  perpetual,  so  it  was  in  Florence.  The  great  and 
wealthy  families  seized  the  power ;  and  at  the  head  of 
these  were  the  Medicis.  Because  Lorenzo  was  a  patron  of 
art  and  literature,  Roscoe  and  others  have  forgotten  his 
crimes  against  the  State  and  People,  his  cruelty,  profligacy, 
rapine,  and  fraud  ;  but  Savonarola  remembered  these,  and 
refused  him  absolution  on  his  death-bed  unless  he  would 
restore  to  the  people  of  Florence  their  liberties.  He 
would  not  do  so,  and  died  without  absolution. 

One  of  Savonarola's  maxims,  often  repeated  in  his  ser- 
mons, was  :  "  One  only  knows  that  which  he  practises." 
Action  was  with  him  the  test  of  all  belief.  He  also 
dwelt  continually  on  the  power  of  Love.  "  Love,"  he  said, 
"  can  move  all  things.  Tlie  physician  wdio  loves  his  patient 
is  the  most  certain  to  cure  him.  Who  has  taught  that 
young  mother  to  nurse  her  child  ?  Who  gives  her  strength 
to  labor  day  and  night  for  it  ?      Love  teaches  her  this. 

15 


226         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

What  helped  Christ  to  do  his  great  work  but  love  ?  Love 
led  him  among  sinners  ;  love  made  him  endure  all  sorrows  ; 
love  led  him  to  the  cross  ;  love  raised  him  from  the  dead." 

He  preached  with  power  against  the  sins  of  the  prelates 
and  the  princes,  and  prophesied  coming  woes  which  were 
soon  to  fall  on  the  land.  "  I  am  like  hail,"  he  said, 
"  which  falls  on  all  who  have  no  shelter."  He  uttered 
these  predictions  frequently,  and  at  last  the  evils  came. 
Throughout  the  whole  of  Lent,  1494,  he  announced  the 
approach  of  a  new  Cyrus,  who  should  march  through 
Italy  as  a  conqueror,  meeting  no  resistance.  The  subject 
of  his  preaching  was  Noah's  Ark,  and  he  took  all  Lent  in 
describing  it.  He  wondered  himself  why  he  should  get 
on  so  slowly  ;  but  in  September  he  began  again  to  preach 
to  the  immense  crowds  who  thronged  the  Cathedral.  At 
last,  on  the  21st  of  September,  he  reached  the  Deluge,  and 
read  his  text  with  a  voice  full  of  feeling  :  "  Behold  !  I,  even 
I,  do  bring  a  flood  of  waters  on  the  earth  ! "  All  the  peo- 
ple shuddered ;  for  on  that  morning  news  arrived  that  the 
French  King  and  army  had  crossed  the  Alps,  and  were 
descending  into  Italy. 

§  3.  Invasion  of  Italy  hy  Charles  VIII.  Savonarola's 
Services.  —  Savonarola's  predictions  had  hitherto  come  true. 
In  the  presence  of  a  number  of  citizens  he  had  foretold 
the  coming  death  of  the  Pope,  of  the  King  of  Naples,  and 
of  Lorenzo  di  Medici ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  after,  all  were 
dead.  Now  he  had  announced  the  coming  of  a  foreign 
power  which  should  conquer  Italy.  It  was  already  descend- 
ing from  the  mountains,  and  not  an  Italian  Prince  was 
prepared  to  meet  it.  These  were  the  days  when,  in  Italy, 
two  armies  cased  in  armor  might  fight  all  day  and  n6  one 
be  killed  except  those  who  fell  from  their  horses  and  were 
trampled  under  foot.  The  French  troops  were  then  the 
best   in   the   world, —  well  armed,  well  drilled,  and  led 


SAVONAROLA   AND   THE   KENAISSANCE.  227 

by  the  foremost  ciiptaiiis  of  Europe.  Conquering  every- 
thing in  his  way,  Charles  VI II.  approached  Florence. 
There  were  three  powerful  fortresses  which  might  have 
resisted  him  ;  but  Tiero  di  Medici,  the  ruler  of  Florence, 
fled  to  the  French  camp  and  surrendered  them  to  the 
King.  Thus  Tuscany  seemed  lost.  An  embassy  sent  to 
beseech  the  King  to  spare  the  city  of  Florence  had  re- 
turned without  success.  The  people  of  the  city  became 
furious,  and  said  they  had  been  betrayed  and  would,  at 
least,  plunder  and  destroy  the  palaces  of  their  rulers  ;  but 
there  was  one  power  remaining  in  Florence  to  which  all 
submitted,  —  that  of  the  great  preacher.  He  told  them 
that  he  would  go  to  the  Duomo  to  speak  to  them,  and 
all  flocked  together  there.  He  held  them  in  his  hand; 
one  hasty  word  from  his  lips  might  have  filled  the  city 
witli  fire  and  blood,  —  such  was  the  anger  in  the  public 
mind  ;  but  he  preached  patience,  submission  to  God's  will, 
peace  to  all  men ;  and  the  storm  was  calmed.  The  great 
historian  Guicciardini  says  that  Savonarola  on  that  day 
saved  the  city. 

Other  ambassadors  were  selected  to  go  to  the  King,  and 
with  them  they  now  took  care  to  send  the  Frate  Sa- 
vonarola. The  Signory  then  decided  to  depose  the  Me- 
dici and  take  the  government  back  into  the  hands  of 
the  people.  Piero  having  returned  to  the  city,  and  at- 
tempting to  get  control  of  it  by  force,  was  driven  out,  and 
a  reward  of  three  thousand  florins  was  ofi'ered  for  his  head. 
The  ambassadors  to  the  King  had  brought  back  a  cold  an- 
swer. Savonarola,  journeying  on  foot,  arrived  later,  and, 
going  into  the  royal  presence,  spoke  to  the  King  in  tlie 
name  of  tlie  Lord,  telling  liim  that  he  was  an  instrument  in 
the  divine  hands  to  punish  the  sins  of  Italy,  but  that  if 
he  was  not  just  and  merciful  the  Lord  would  break  him  in 
pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel.     To  this  the  King  listened 


228  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

with  attentive  and  docile  ears,  and  promised  to  treat  Flor- 
ence well.  So  he  entered  it  peacefully,  but  was  too  much 
satisfied  with  it  to  leave  it  again.  Trouble  was  about  to 
commence  between  the  French  soldiers  and  the  people  of 
the  city.  Then  Savonarola  came  once  more  to  the  King, 
and  w^arned  him  not  to  delay  longer  what  he  had  to  do ; 
and  so  the  French  left  the  city. 

And  now  the  great  bell  tolled  to  call  the  people  to 
deliberate  on  a  new  form  of  government  in  place  of 
the  tyranny  which  they  had  escaped.  What  should  it 
be  ?  That  it  should  not  be  a  despotism  all  agreed.  Many 
looked  with  envy  toward  Venice, —  that  great  State  which, 
amid  the  revolutions  of  other  Italian  governments,  had 
maintained  its  long  and  solemn  repose  on  the  Lagunes 
and  by  the  sands  of  the  Lido.  The  party  of  the  "  Gentle- 
men" wished  some  form  of  government  like  that  of  Venice. 
The  lawyers  were  for  originating  a  new  constitution.  No 
one  knew  exactly  what  was  wanted ;  time  was  passing ; 
dangers  were  around ;  all  was  indecision.  At  last  the  eyes 
of  men  turned  to  Savonarola,  —  "  the  man,"  says  Villari, 
"  destined  to  save  Florence."  Hitherto  he  had  avoided 
taking  any  part  in  city  politics ;  his  whole  soul  was 
filled  with  the  woes  of  the  Church  and  the  perils  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  but  the  time  had  come  when  he  could  no  longer 
refuse.  He  stepped  forward  and  took  the  helm.  The  Ship 
of  State  at  once  felt  the  grasp  of  a  man,  and  slowly  began 
to  move  forward,  all  its  sails  beginning  to  fill  and  draw. 

He  went  to  his  throne,  the  pulpit  of  the  Cathedral,  and 
preached  on  the  times.  He  pointed  oat  the  dangers  of  the 
one-man  power,  and  declared  that  the  people  must  elect 
tlie  magistrates  and  approve  the  laws.  He  advised  a  gen- 
eral amnesty,  equalization  of  taxes,  and  a  government 
modelled  on  that  of  the  Great  Council  at  Venice. 

The  impulse  thus  given  by  Savonarola  took  with  it  the 


SAVONAROLA   AND   THE   RENAISSANCE.  220 

whole  people.  Every  day  he  preached  to  them,  commend- 
iug  —  lirst  of  all — ret'orin  of  morals  and  purity  of  man- 
ners; and  then  advising  what  measures  should  be  pur- 
sued. The  Great  Council,  which  had  supreme  power, 
which  appointed  all  magistrates  and  made  all  laws,  was 
elective.  Florence  then  contained  ninety  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  of  these  only  about  thirty-two  hundred  were 
eligible  to  the  Council,  which  consisted  of  a  thousand 
men.  A  smaller  assembly  of  eighty  was  an  executive 
body.  Taxation,  before  in  a  wretched  condition,  was  ar- 
ranged on  Savonarola's  plan  of  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent  on 
incomes  derived  from  permanent  property.  This  plan 
worked  so  well  that  it  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 

The  republican  government  being  thus  established,  Sa- 
vonarola next  persuaded  the  Council  to  establish  a  Pawn- 
ers'JJank, —  that  is,  a  bank  for  loaning  small  sums  at  a 
moderate  rate  of  interest.  This  business  had  been  in  the 
hands  of  the  Jews,  who  lent  at  thirty-two  per  cent  with 
compound  interest.  The  new  institution  lent  money  at 
six  i)er  cent,  the  borrowers  bein^^  obliged  to  take  an  oath 
not  to  gamble  with  tlie  money  obtained  from  the  bank. 
One  other  law  was  passed  about  this  time,  "  removing  the 
sentt'uce  of  outlawry  from  Messer  Dante  Alighieri,  great- 
grandson  of  the  Poet,  and  allowing  him  to  return  to  Flor- 
ence without  paying  taxes." 

The  personal  power  of  Savonarola  was  shown  in  the 
influence  exercised  by  him  over  Benedetto.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  Florentine  goldsmith,  and  was  himself  a  success- 
ful miniature-painter.  In  the  flower  of  his  youth,  full  of 
manly  qualities,  brave,  gentle,  and  joyous,  with  a  tixste  for 
art  and  ])oetry,  he  led  a  life  of  pleasure.  At  this  time 
the  renown  of  the  great  preacher  of  St.  Mark's  drew 
crowds  to  the  cathedral ;  but  Benedetto  refused  to  hear 
him,  and  took  sides  with  the  enemies  of  Savonarola,  the 


230         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    HELIGIOUS    II ISTO LI Y. 

Arrabbiati.  One  day  he  visited  a  noble  lady  who  highly 
praised  the  sermons  of  Savonarola,  and  begged  him  to  go 
with  her  to  hear  her  favorite  Friar  preach  in  the  Duomo. 
Eeluctantly  he  went  and  unwillingly  remained  ;  but  when 
Savonarola  began  to  speak,  Benedetto  was  fascinated  and 
a  strange  feeling  came  over  him.  His  volatile  spirit  was 
subdued  into  profound  sadness.  "  I  felt  more  dead  than 
alive,"  he  says.  An  irresistible  attraction  drew  him  daily 
to  the  place  where  Savonarola  conducted  the  services.  He 
broke  away  from  his  pleasant  vices  and  his  gay  companions ; 
and  when  he  thought  he  had  conquered  his  worldly  desires 
and  the  pride  of  life,  he  went  to  the  Friar  and  said  he 
wished  to  enter  the  convent.  Savonarola  dissuaded  him, 
pointing  out  the  difficulties  of  a  monastic  life,  and  put  him 
on  a  long  probation.  Even  after  this  was  borne  with  suc- 
cess, Savonarola  did  not  admit  him  to  the  order,  but  ap- 
pointed him  to  visit  the  sick  and  follow  the  dead  to  their 
graves.  He  then  gave  him  personal  instruction,  and  at 
last  received  him  into  the  monastery.  Benedetto  became 
one  of  his  most  faithful  followers,  and  was  loyal  to  his 
master  to  the  end. 

Amid  all  this  popularity  and  success  the  prophetic  lieart 
of  Savonarola  remained  sad.  He  still  saw  the  black  root  of 
evil  in  the  general  corruption  of  Italy,  tlie  depraved  Church, 
the  wicked  Pope,  the  frivolous  people.  In  his  sermons  his 
eloquence  grew  deeper  and  more  solemn  than  ever. 

§  4.  Opposition  to  Savonarola.  The  Pope  forbids  him  to 
preach.  —  Meantime  a  secret  opposition  against  him  was 
growing  up  among  a  certain  class  in  Florence.  All  parties 
were  opposed  to  the  Medici,  but  the  higher  and  wealthier 
people,  who  had  hoped  to  obtain  the  power  for  themselves, 
were  very  angry  with  Savonarola  for  his  democratic  re- 
public. They  also  hated  the  Puritanic  morality  he  had 
introduced  into   Florence.      They   contemptuously   called 


SAVONAROLA   AND   THH    UENAISSANCE.  231 

his  followers  Piagmni,  —  "  Cry-bal)ies  ; "  and  from  tlieir 
anf^T  feelinLTs  were  themselves  called  Arrahhiatl — "Enrawd 
Ones."  They  found  fault  with  Savonarola  for  meddlinu: 
with  the  affairs  of  State,  and  their  bitterness  increased 
with  his  popularity.  They  sneered  when  the  ladies  gave 
up  their  ricli  dresses  and  ornaments,  when  wild  young 
men  became  serious,  when  the  working  people  read  their 
Bibles  during  their  noonday  rest,  and  even  when  rogues 
returned  the  money  they  had  unjustly  gained.  So  they 
scoffed  at  Savonarola  and  his  followers,  —  called  them  Syc- 
opliants,  Babies,  and  Paternoster-chewers. 

]\leantime  the  cunning  Pope,  Alexander  Borgia,  had  heard 
of  Savonarola,  and  hated  him  equally  for  his  denunciations 
of  the  vices  which  Borgia  loved,  and  for  his  love  of  the 
freedom  which  Borgia  hated.  He  sent  him  a  honeyed 
invitation  to  come  to  Rome,  meaning  probably  to  put  him 
to  death  there.  Savonarola  declined  going.  Then  came  a 
Brief  suspending  him  from  preaching ;  and  at  the  same 
time,  by  the  recommendation  of  a  Dominican  bishop,  the 
ofler  of  a  cardinal's  hat  if  lie  would  cease  his  invectives 
against  Rome  and  support  the  Pope.  Savonarola  indig- 
nantly refused,  saying  that  he  expected  one  day  a  hat  red 
with  his  own  blood,  and  this  was  the  only  red  liat  he 
would  accept.  These  words  also  were  to  be  fulfilled.  Tlie 
prohibition  to  preach  was  then  removed. 

Aljout  this  time,  in  his  sermons,  he  declared  himself  a 
good  Catholic,  and  that  he  was  determined  to  obey  the 
Church  of  Rome.  However,  he  very  much  diminished 
the  value  of  this  obedience  by  adding  that  if  the  Pope 
commanded  anything  contrary  to  the  gospel  he  must  refuse, 
and  say  to  the  Pope  :  "  Thou  art  now  not  a  good  shepherd ; 
thou  art  not  a  member  of  the  Roman  Cliurch." 

He  then  denounced  with  his  usual  boldness,  as  though 
he  had  lieen  Luther  himself,  the  reliance  of  the  people  on 
outward  ceremonies. 


232  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

The  new  Eepublic  of  Florence  was  surrounded  with 
dangers,  and  it  was  difficult  to  know  what  would  be  the 
result.  The  Friar  was  still  the  encouragement  and  sup- 
port of  the  people,  and  became  more  and  more  odious  to 
the  aristocratic  classes,  to  the  Pope,  and  to  the  evil-doers. 

Carnival  approaching,  Savonarola  had  determined  to 
stop  the  wild  and  licentious  orgies  to  which  the  peo- 
ple had  been  accustomed  by  the  Medici.  The  children 
had  enjoyed  taking  part  in  them,  —  asking  for  money, 
lighting  bonfires,  having  feasts,  throwing  stones,  and  sing- 
incf  foolish  son2:s.  Savonarola  collected  the  children  to- 
gether  and   oave   them  another  amusement.     He  tauo'ht 

o  o  o 

them  to  sing  hymns,  and  made  them  go  from  house 
to  house  collecting  the  immoral  books  and  pictures  to 
burn  in  a  great  bonfire.  An  immense  quantity  of  these 
objects  having  been  collected,  on  the  last  day  of  Carnival 
the  children  walked  in  a  procession,  had  a  frugal  repast, 
sang  their  liynms,  and  then  went  to  the  Square  where  a 
great  pile  of  wood  was  raised  on  which  were  placed  the  pic- 
tures, books,  and  gay  ornaments,  and  all  were  burned. 

But  we  hasten  to  the  conclusion  of  our  story.  Although 
the  Medici  were  defeated,  yet  the  strength  of  those  who 
hated  popular  government,  united  with  the  influence  of 
the  Pope  and  of  those  who  disliked  the  Puritanical  virtue 
of  Savonarola,  gave  the  enemies  of  the  Friar  an  ascendancy 
in  Florence,  and  at  last  the  control  of  the  government. 
At  this  time  the  Pope  excommunicated  him,  the  reason 
given  being  that  he  had  disobeyed  his  order  to  come  to 
Rome,  which  was  unquestionably  true.  This  excommu- 
nication was  published  in  Florence  with  great  solemnity 
in  the  Cathedral,  —  all  the  clergy  except  the  Domini- 
cans being  present,  the  bells  tolling,  and  the  lights  being 
extinguished  while  the  paper  was  read.  During  the  next 
few   days   all   was   tunmlt   in   Florence.      Disorder,  riot. 


SAVONAROLA   AND   THE   RENAISSANCE.  233 

debauchery,  began  their  course  a,c,^ain,  as  if  no  reform 
had  taken  phice.  It  was  evident  that  the  fickle  and  easily 
moved  peo[)le  of  Florence  had  not  received  any  profound 
impression,  or  experienced  any  real  change  of  conviction. 

One  little  gleam  of  light,  however,  returned  in  the  midst 
of  this  stormy  day.  At  the  next  electicni  a  government 
favorable  to  Savonarola  was  elected.  His  influence  also 
was  increased  by  some  tragedies  in  the  Borgia  family. 
One  of  the  Pope's  sons  —  a  cardinal  —  having  murdered 
his  brother,  this  event  bowed  the  wicked  old  Tope's  head 
to  the  ground.  Savonarola,  though  excommunicated,  ad- 
dressed an  affectionate  letter  to  the  Pope,  calling  on  him 
to  repent  of  his  sins  and  lead  a  better  life.  The  Pope's 
giief  and  penitence,  however,  were  short-lived,  and  his 
rage  against  Savonarola  w\as  increased, 

§  5.  Tlic  Ordeal.  Savonarola  seized  and  imj^risoncd. — 
On  the  18th  of  March,  1498,  a  new  command  to  cease 
from  preaching  having  come  from  Eome,  Savonarola  took 
leave  of  the  congreijation  forever.  As  a  last  effort  he  en- 
deavored  to  cause  a  General  Council  to  assemble,  in  which 
he  could  plead  his  own  cause  and  procure  the  deposition 
of  Borgia  as  a  heretic  and  infidel.  He  appealed  to  the 
King  of  France  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  but  the 
letters  were  intercepted  and  sent  to  Rome.  Another  elec- 
tion had  put  the  Friar's  enemies  in  power. 

His  opponents  had  challenged  him  to  test  the  truth  of 
his  doctrines  by  a  fiery  ordeal.  This  challenge  was  eagerly 
accepted  by  one  of  his  friends,  Fra  Domenico ;  but  after 
all  the  preparations  had  been  made  the  challenger  did  not 
ap])ear,  and  the  blame  was  adroitly  thrown  on  Savonarola 
and  his  party.  This  was  done  so  boldly  and  ingeniously 
that  the  people  were  deceived,  and  the  popularity  of  Sa- 
vonarola was  temporarily  destroyed.  It  is  hard  for  us  to 
understand  such  fluctuations  of  feeling,  but  it  is  certain 


234  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

that  this  proposed  ordeal  threw  him  into  the  power  of  his 
enemies.  They  lost  no  time  in  bringing  an  armed  mob  to 
attack  him  in  his  convent.  The  monks  defended  them- 
selves, and  for  a  time  successfully  ;  but  the  church  was  set 
on  fire,  several  on  both  sides  were  killed,  and  Savonarola 
ordered  them  to  surrender. 

Savonarola  was  taken  to  prison  amid  the  insults  and 
the  wild  fury  of  the  mob.  This  was  on  Palm  Sunday. 
A  commission  of  seventeen  examiners,  —  composed  of  his 
deadly  enemies,  the  leaders  of  the  opposite  party,  —  was 
appointed  to  try  him.  During  the  eleven  days  of  the  trial 
he  was  repeatedly  tortured,  sometimes  being  made  deliri- 
ous by  the  pain,  but  his  courage  never  yielded.  As  soon 
as  his  mind  returned  he  became  invulnerable,  and  rose  to 
a  sublime  height  of  peace  and  strength.  The  Pope's  com- 
missioners arrived  and  inflicted  on  him  more  severe  tor- 
tures. From  the  8th  of  April,  during  forty  days,  he  and 
his  two  companions  were  subjected  to  these  repeated  ex- 
aminations and  sufferings.  At  last,  on  May  22,  the  sen- 
tence of  death  was  pronounced.  They  were  to  be  strangled 
and  then  burned. 

§  6.  The  Death  and  Character  of  Savonarola.  —  The  de- 
tails of  these  events,  as  taken  from  the  testimony  of  many 
witnesses,  are  as  follows. 

The  Signory,  having  imprisoned  Savonarola  and  his 
companions,  hesitated  at  first  whether  they  should  be  tried 
in  Florence  or  sent  to  Eome.  They  decided  for  the  former 
alternative,  and  appointed  a  special  commission  of  seven- 
teen examiners,  most  of  them  the  deadly  enemies  of  the 
Friar. 

As  every  confession  extorted  by  torture  from  Savonarola 
was  immediately  retracted  by  him  when  the  torture  ceased, 
the  Notary  falsified  the  record  in  order  to  show  that 
Savonarola  had  admitted  the  truth  of  the  crimes  charged 


SAVONAROLA   AND    THE   RENAISSANCE.  235 

against  him.  *  The  points  on  which  the  Friar  thus  varied, 
were  those  relating  to  his  prophetic  visions,  lie  dechired 
that  this  was  a  private  aHair  and  not  a  matter  of  State,  that 
the  result  would  prove  whether  he  had  predicted  the  truth 
or  not.  But  when  interrogated  in  regard  to  his  motives 
and  actions,  he  never  wavered,  but  declared  his  whole 
purpose  was  to  have  the  Church  chastised  and  relormed. 
For  this  end  he  had  sought  to  have  a  Council  called,  and 
to  have  the  Tope  deposed  lor  his  many  crimes.  lie  oiten 
repeated :  "  I  meant  to  do  great  things  for  Italy,  and  be- 
yond Italy."  When  asked  ii'  he  expected  to  be  chosen 
Pope,  he  rei)lied :  "  No !  for  if  I  had  done  such  a  work  I 
should  have  been  greater  than  a  Pope."  He  denied  that  he 
had  interfered  with  the  details  of  government  or  meddled 
with  the  action  of  parties  in  Florence.  "  My  only  object 
was  to  bring  about  free  government,  in  general,  and  such 
laws  as  would  improve  it." 

The  testimony  of  the  Signory  in  their  letter  to  the  Pope, 
contains  these  words  :  — 

"  We  have  had  to  deal  with  a  man  of  extraordinary  patience 
in  sufferiug  and  of  great  sagacity ;  who  hardened  himself 
against  torture,  involved  the  truth  in  all  kinds  of  obscurity, 
and  seemed  to  be  deliberating  either  about  establishing  for 
himself,  by  pretended  sanctity,  an  eternal  fame  with  posterity, 
or  to  brave  imprisonment  and  death.  Notwithstanding  a  long 
and  most  careful  interrogatory,  and  with  all  the  help  of  torture, 
we  could  scarcely  extract  anything  out  of  him  which  he  wished 
to  conceal  from  us,  although  we  laid  open  almost  the  inmost 
recesses  of  his  mind.''^ 

*  Nardi,  in  his  "  History  <>f  Florence,"  i^ays  that  one  of  the  examiner.'^, 
an  enemy  of  Savonarola,  admitted,  in  conversation  with  him,  that  in  the 
Process  of  Fra,  Girolamo  "some  things  were  left  out  and  .some  added  for  the 
sake  of  the  object  in  view."  These,  says  Nardi,  were  the  exact  words  of 
his  reply. 

^  This  is  Homer's  English  translation  of  the  original  Latin  words  as 
given  by  Villari. 


236  EVENTS   AND  EPOCHS   IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Savonarola  signed  a  paper  purporting  to  contain  his 
answers  and  confessions.  Villari  believes  it  was  altered 
from  that  read  to  him.  It  is  certain  that  when  all  the 
witnesses  had  signed,  he  turned  to  them  and  uttered  these 
exact  words :  — 

"  My  doctrine  is  known  to  you  and  known  to  all.  lu  this 
state  of  tribulation  I  ask  of  you  only  two  things,  —  take  care 
of  the  novices  and  see  that  they  are  preserved  in  that  Christian 
doctrine  in  which  we  have  hitherto  maintained  them  ;  and  pray 
to  the  Lord  for  me,  whose  spirit  of  prophecy  has  at  this  time 
forsaken  me." 

Fra  Domenico,  the  companion  and  friend  of  Savonarola, 
showed  on  his  examination  a  generous  and  noble  courage. 
All  the  tortures  inflicted  on  him  never  made  him  waver. 
His  left  hand  was  maimed  by  the  torture,  but  he  wrote  his 
declaration  with  the  right  hand,  left  uninjured  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  Signory  allowed  him  to  do  so,  hoping  to  find 
in  it  some  ground  of  accusation  against  him  or  against 
Savonarola.  He  declared  in  this  :  *'  I  have  ever  firmly 
believed  and  do  now  believe,  and  nothing  has  made  me 
think  otherwise,  in  all  the  prophecies  of  Savonarola.  Give 
credit  to  what  I  say.  I  have  always  had  a  tender  con- 
science. I  know  what  a  sin  it  is  to  utter  a  falsehood  or 
conceal  a  truth  in  the  presence  of  a  judge."  After  they 
liad  again  tortured  him,  he  took  the  pen  and  wrote : 
"  God's  will  be  done.  I  never  perceived  nor  suspected 
that  Father  Hieronyme  deceived  or  feigned  anything.  He 
Avas  always  a  most  upright  man,  and  a  man  of  a  rare 

nature I  have  always  obeyed  him  with  singleness  of 

heart.     I  would  at  any  time  have  publicly  declared  it  if  I 
had  found  any  duplicity  in  him." 

Some  of  the  friars  of  St.  Mark,  companions  and  friends 
of  Savonarola,  were  also  examined.     To  them  was  shown 


SAVONAROLA   AND   THE    RENAISSANCE.  237 

the  pretended  admission  of  their  master,  in  which  he  was 
made  to  confess  himself  a  deceiver.  Imposed  u})on  by 
tliis  false  confession  they  renounced  him  with  indi^^nation, 
and  asked  pardon  of  the  Pope  for  Iniving  followi'd  him  ;  hut 
in  tliese  very  expressions  of  anger  against  Savonarola  tiiey 
uncouscionsly  bear  witness  to  liis  ])urity  and  worth.  They 
say  virtually  :  "  No  wonder  we  weie  imjjo.sed  on  by  him, 
for  notliing  could  exceed  his  apparent  humility,  holiness, 
admirable  conversation,  fervent  ])ray(ns,  and  general  purity 
of  life."  Some  of  them  said  :  "  The  subtlety  of  liis  doc- 
trine ;  the  rectitude  of  his  life  ;  the  sanctity  of  his  habits  ; 
his  feigned  devotion;  the  success  which  attended  his  efforts 
to  reclaim  the  city  from  vice,  usury,  and  crimes ;  the  many 
events,  which  no  man  could  have  foreseen,  that  came  to 
pass  according  to  his  predictions, —  were  so  great  that,  had 
he  not  himself  retracted,  we  never  could  have  withheld  our 
belief  from  his  words." 

Savonarola  spent  his  time  in  prison  in  writing  religious 
meditations  and  ]»rayers.  In  his  torture  his  right  arm  had 
been  purposely  spared  to  enable  him  to  write  his  con- 
fession.    He  was  therefore  able  to  use  his  pen. 

These  meditations  and  ])rayers  have  been  preserved. 
They  are  one  long  outpouring  of  his  soul  to  God.  His 
enemies  are  f(»rgotten.  He  utters  no  complaints  against 
the  injustice  done  him.  He  prays  for  the  Church,  the 
world,  his  friends,  himself.  He  relies  on  God's  grace  and 
Christ's  work  for  forgiveness  and  salvation. 

These  "  Meditations,"  thus  com])osed  in  prison,  acquired 
immense  celebrity.  One  of  them  passed  soon  through 
tliirteen  editions,  and  was  afterward  republished  by  Martin 
Luther,  with  a  preface  in  which  he  declared  that  Savona- 
rola had  antici])ated  his  own  teaching.  "  Some  theological 
mud,"  says  Luther,  "still  adheres  to  the  feet  of  tliis  lioly 
man,  but  yet  he  maintains  justification  by  faitli  alo!!",  and 


238         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

he  was  burned  by  the  Pope ;  but  he  lives  in  blessedness, 
and  Christ  has  canonized  him." 

If  Savonarola  lost  his  courage  and  presence  of  mind 
during  his  tortures,  his  whole  strength  came  back  when 
he  was  led  to  death.  On  the  way  he  and  his  companions 
were  met  by  an  order  that  they  should  have  their  gowns 
taken  from  them,  leaving  them  only  in  their  tunics.  Savo- 
narola was  disturbed  by  this  for  a  moment,  but  directly  his 
calmness  returned,  and  he  held  his  gown  in  his  hand,  say- 
ing :  "  Holy  dress,  I  longed  to  wear  thee  !  Thou  wast  given 
me  by  God's  grace  and  I  have  kept  thee  spotless  to  this 
day  !  I  do  not  leave  thee,  —  thou  art  taken  from  me  !  " 

As  they  were  led  through  the  streets,  the  rabble  were 
allowed  to  offer  the  three  friars  every  insult.  They  bore  it 
in  silence.  One  person,  however,  spoke  a  word  of  sym- 
pathy. To  him  Savonarola  benignantly  replied :  "  In  the 
last  hour,  only  God  can  give  comfort  to  man ! "  His  last 
words  were  :  "  Tlie  Lord  has  suffered  as  much  for  me." 
He  died  at  ten  in  the  morning,  May  23,  1498  A.  D. 

It  was  not  longj  after  the  deatli  of  Savonarola  before  a  re- 
action  began  against  liis  opponents  and  murderers.  During 
a  short  period  his  followers  were  persecuted  and  his  mem- 
ory insulted.  The  Pope,  who  seemed  to  feel  himself  freed 
from  all  restraint  l)y  the  Friar's  death,  gave  full  course  to 
his  passions  and  ambitions.  He  offered  for  sale,  in  one 
year,  twelve  cardinal's  hats  ;  so  says  Guicciardini.  He 
formed  an  alliance  with  the  Turks.  He  levied  such  con- 
tributions on  Florence  that  the  city  was  obliged  to  return 
to  the  policy  recommended  by  Savonarola,  and  ally  them- 
selves with  France. 

The  Congregation  of  the  Index,  sixty  years  after  the 
death  of  Savonarola,  examined  his  writings  and  declared 
them  free  from  heresy. 

His  j)rophecies  continued  to  be  veritied.     When  Eome 


SAVONAROLA   AND   Tilt:   KENAISSANCE.  239 

was  sacked  by  the  armies  ul'  Charles  V.  it  seemed  as  il"  his 
predictions  were  iultilled  to  the  letter.  St.  Filippo  Neri 
and  St.  CateriiKi  dei  liicci  worshii)ped  liim  as  a  Saint. 
Benedict  XIV.  believed  him  wortliy  t(j  be  so  called.  His 
portrait  by  liallaelle  is  on  the  walls  of  the  Vatican,  in 
the  "  Dispute  ut'  the  Sacrament."  He  came  before  his 
time ;  he  was  a  martyr  to  the  truth  which  was  to  dawn 
afterwards,  —  a  lieformer  before  the  Iieformation.  Not 
that  he  rejected  a  single  tenet  of  the  Church  of  liome,  but 
he  rejected  her  fundamental  principle ;  he  refused  to  obey 
the  Church  when  the  Church  seemed  to  command  him  to 
disobey  God.  He  was  an  apostle  of  the  liiglit  of  Private 
Judgment.  He  was  a  reformer  of  the  vices  of  the  Church, 
a  defender  of  popular  liberty,  and  a  man  of  prayer  and  faith. 

The  influence  of  Savonarola  on  artists  and  art  must  not 
be  forgotten,  liio,  in  his  "  Poetry  of  Christian  Art,"  says 
that  the  simple  monk  was  suiTounded  by  a  group  of  ad- 
mirers which  contained  philosophers,  poets,  artists  of  all 
kinds.  Pico  della  Mirandola  was  one  of  these  ;  Benivieni, 
a  Platonist  and  Iriend  of  the  Medici,  another.  Lorenzo  di 
Credi,  a  noble  artist  of  the  school  of  Leonardo  di  Vinci,  was 
a  devoted  admirer  of  the  Friar ;  Fra  Benedetto,  a  follower 
of  Fra  Angelico,  was  another.  Fra  Bartolemeo,  another 
great  artist,  was  also  a  disciple  These  two  last  mentioned, 
with  Baldini  and  Gliirlandaio,  formed  a  school  of  relij^ious 
art  under  the  influence  of  Savonarola.  Our  monk  in  his 
convent  was  surrounded  by  the  saintly  faces  with  which 
Fra  Angelico  had  illuminated  the  walls,  —  faces  full  of  a 
divine  beauty.  Far  from  despising  art,  Savonarola  loved 
it  and  hoped  great  things  from  it. 

The  influence  of  Savonarola  was  felt  by  the  greatest  men 
of  his  own  day.  The  historian  Guicciardini  speaks  of  his 
rich  virtues,  sound  judgment,  deep  philosophy,  and  of  his 
pure  life. 


240         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY, 

In  the  year  1495  Philippe  de  Comines  passed  through 
Tuscany  and. went  to  St.  Mark's  to  see  Savonarola;  and 
that  experienced  judge  of  men  left  the  place  filled  with 
high  admiration.  He  expected  to  see  a  singular  man  and 
found  an  extraordinary  one. 

"  He  spoke  to  me  of  the  meeting,  which  had  just  taken  place 
in  Venice,  better  than  I  could  have  done  who  had  come  directly 
from  it.  His  own  life  was  as  virtuous  as  possible,  and  his 
sermons  directed  against  all  vices.  I  do  not  pretend  to  judge 
of  bis  revelations,  but  it  is  certain  that  he  predicted  things, 
both  to  the  King  and  to  myself,  which  no  one  expected  at  the 
time  but  which  all  came  to  pass  afterward." 

Savonarola  died  a  martyr  to  righteousness,  justice,  purity, 
liberty.  The  man  who  could  influence  his  time  as  he  did, 
in  public  and  private,  —  influence  the  humble  and  the 
great,  men  of  all  tastes,  pursuits,  talents ;  he  who  could 
stop  an  ambitious  king  in  the  full  career  of  conquest  and 
arrest  the  violence  of  a  wild  multitude  ;  who  could  estab- 
lish the  form  of  government  for  a  state  ;  direct,  for  a  while 
at  least,  the  current  of  popular  thought,  and  impress  the 
greatest  minds  of  his  time,  —  he  must  forever  stand  as  one 
of  the  master  spirits  among  men.  The  power  which  lifted 
this  simple  monk  till  it  made  him  the  inspiration  of  a 
nation,  the  guide  of  princes,  the  teacher  of  artists  and  phil- 
osophers, was  the  strength  of  moral  and  religious  convic- 
tions. He  believed  with  his  whole  soul.  In  a  divided 
age,  he  was  a  whole  man. 

"  In  vain  shall  Eome  her  portals  bar, 
And  shut  from  him  her  saintly  prize, 
Whom,  in  the  world's  great  calendar, 
All  men  shall  canonize." 


LUTHER   AND    LOYOLA.  241 


VIII. 

LUTHER   AND   THE   EEFORMATION  —  LOYOLA 
AND   THE   JESUITS. 

§  1.  Introduction.  Early  Life  of  Luther.  —  In  speaking 
of  Luther  and  Loyola  I  describe  two  heroes  of  faith,  both 
of  them  courageous,  honest,  and  devoted  to  a  great  cause 
not  their  own.  This  is  one  scene  in  the  Tragedy  of  Life ; 
for  the  deepest  of  tragedies  is  when  two  persons,  par- 
ties, or  churches,  equally  sincere  and  good,  regard  each 
other  as  foes,  finding  it  impossible  to  understand  each 
other  or  to  be  reconciled  with  each  other.  In  such  cases,  we 
who  stand  outside  the  struggle,  or  who  come  later  on  the 
scene,  ought  to  try  to  do  justice  to  them  all,  and  to  recog- 
nize the  truth  and  the  good  on  both  sides ;  for  final  peace 
will  never  come  except  in  this  way.  False  moderation 
sets  itself  apart  to  criticise  and  to  point  out  the  i'aults  of 
each.  True  moderation  tries  to  put  itself  in  the  place  of 
both,  look  from  each  point  of  view,  and  see  tlie  trutli  on 
both  sides.  This  is  what  I  shall  attempt  to  do  in  speaking 
of  Luther  and  Loyola. 

More  tlian  three  centuries  removed  from  the  Lutheran 
Reformation,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  attain  to  sometliing  of 
this  impartiality.  It  is  true  that  we  are  mostly  Protestants, 
educated  in  Protestant  traditions.  1  am  by  full  conviction, 
no  less  tlian  by  education,  a  Protestant.  I  believe  that  the 
Reformation  of  Lutlier  was  necessary,  indispensable  to  liu- 
man  progress,  and  the  fruitful  source  of  the  best  civilization 

16 


242         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

of  our  time.  I  have  certainly  no  sympathy  with  the  talk 
about  the  "  Failure  of  Protestantism."  Yet  when  I  see  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  after  all  these  centuries  of  conflict, 
vigorous,  expansive,  active,  and  commanding  the  grateful 
love  and  loyalty  of  vast  multitudes,  I  am  convinced  that 
it  also  must  hold  in  trust  for  humanity  some  vital  and 
necessary  truths.  Whatever  continues  to  live,  lives  by 
the  truth  which  it  contains,  not  by  its  errors ;  therefore  I 
must  conclude  that  if  Protestantism  sees  one  side  of 
Christian  truth,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  sees  another. 
When  either  shall  fully  see  and  assimilate  the  good  there 
is  in  the  other  party,  it  will  conquer  the  other ;  but  con- 
quer it  by  uniting  with  it.  Then  the  Church  will  be  one, 
and  the  world  will  at  last  be  brought  to  God  throuoh  Christ. 
This  is  said  because  we  shall  be  obliged  in  this  lecture  to 
touch  on  questions  about  which  men  are  still  divided. 

Martin  Luther  was  born  at  Eisleben,  in  Saxony,  Nov.  10, 
1483  ,  the  same  year  with  the  painter,  Raffaelle.  He  was 
a  few  years  older  than  Henry  VIII.  of  England  and 
Francis  I.  of  France.  He  came  about  thirty-five  years 
after  the  invention  of  printing,  and  nine  years  before  the 
discovery  of  America  by  Columbus.  His  father  was  poor 
and  by  trade  a  miner,  an  honest  man,  and  of  a  firm  char- 
acter. He  sent  his  son  to  school  at  Eisenach,  where  a 
kind  widow.  Dame  Ursula,  took  pity  on  the  boy  who 
wandered  through  the  streets  singing  for  a  support.  She 
maintained  him  at  school  four  years.  In  1501  he  entered 
the  University  of  Erfurt.  He  was  a  serious,  earnest  youth. 
In  the  college  library  he  found  a  Bible,  a  book  before  un- 
known to  him,  and  studied  it  with  his  whole  heart. 

In  1505,  when  twenty-two  years  old,  his  most  intimate 
friend  Alexis  was  found  dead  in  his  bed ;  and  he  himself 
about  the  same  time  just  escaped  a  bolt  of  lightning 
which  struck  a  tree  near  him.     It  is  noticeable  that  men 


LUTHER  AND  LOYOLA.  243 

of  strong  will  oftun  ueed  some  such  outward  event  to 
bring  about  an  inward  crisis.  So  Paul  was  converted  by 
a  great  light  from  heaven  ;  so  Augustine  l)y  a  voice  chant- 
ing to  him:  "Take  up  and  read;  take  up  and  read!" 
These  events  produced  a  deep  impression  (jn  tlie  mind  of 
Luther.  This  world,  with  its  pleasures,  its  society,  its 
labors,  its  studies,  seemed  to  him  as  vanity  and  less  than 
nothing.  The  world  to  come,  that  terrible  world  of  strict 
and  fearful  retribution,  of  which  his  father  had  spoken  to 
his  childhood  ;  a  God  angry  with  his  sins ;  a  soul  to  be 
saved  or  lost,  —  these  ideas  wholly  engrossed  him.  If 
there  was  formal  error,  there  was  substantial  truth  in  such 
thoughts.  Why  hesitate  ?  There  is  a  narrow  way  which 
leads  to  life;  and  that  way,  according  to  the  universal 
opinion  of  the  time,  led  through  the  cloister.  He  re- 
nounced the  world  and  became  an  Augustinian  monk. 
His  father,  John  Luther,  disapproved  of  this.  When  did 
any  strong  father  approve  of  the  course  of  his  strong 
sons  ?  In  his  convent  Luther  faithfully  tried  all  that 
monkish  austerities  could  do  to  save  his  soul.  He  went 
about  the  streets  begging  for  the  monastery  ;  he  performed 
the  most  menial  oilices  about  the  house  ;  he  fasted  whole 
days;  he  watched  whole  nights,  repeating  ])rayers.  All 
this  brought  hiiu  no  i)eace,  but  rather  increased  his  per- 
plexity and  sadness  of  spirit.  His  conscience  troubled 
him  more  and  more.  But  now  he  was  to  find  the  cure  in 
Christ's  teaching  of  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  the  doctrine 
of  Justification  by  Faith.  An  old  monk  came  into  his 
cell  one  day  as  he  was  overwhelmed  with  despair,  and 
after  listening  to  his  doubts  repeated  simjdy  the  words  of 
the  Creed  :  "  I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  !"  Lutlier 
answered  :  "  I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  !"  "Ah," 
said  the  monk,  "  you  must  not  merely  believe  that  David's 
sins  and  Peter's  sins  are  forgiven;  the  devils  believe  that; 


244  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

you  must  believe  that  Martin  Luther's  sins  are  forgiven." 
How  sweet  did  this  doctrine  appear  to  him.  But  he  ob- 
tained light  especially  from  Staupitz,  vicar-general  of  the 
Augustines  for  Germany.  Staupitz  taught  Luther  from 
his  own  experience  the  doctrine  of  Faith  in  God's  love 
which  pardons  sins.  "  Oh,  my  sins,  my  sins ! "  said  Lu- 
ther one  day  to  Staupitz  in  an  accent  of  despair.  "  Do 
you  despair,"  answered  he,  "  because  you  are  a  real  sinner  ? 
If  you  were  not  a  real  sinner,  you  would  not  have  a  real 
Savior."  Now,  too,  Luther  began  to  read  the  Scriptures 
more  diligently,  and  especially  Paul's  epistles  to  the  Eo- 
mans  and  the  Galatians.  He  also  read  Augustine,  and  the 
writings  of  Erasmus,  Tauler,  and  others.  He  was  ordained 
priest ;  and  seeing  the  Host  carried  in  procession,  the 
thought  that  it  was  God  himself,  who  was  being  borne 
before  him,  struck  him  with  a  deadly  fear.  Then  Staupitz 
whispered  in  his  ear :  "  It  is  not  Christ  who  terrifies  you. 
Christ  does  not  terrify,  he  consoles." 

§  2.  Luther  at  Wittenberg.  His  doctrine  of  Justification. 
—  Frederick  the  Wise,  Elector  of  Saxony,  had  lately 
founded  a  university  at  Wittenberg.  By  the  recommen- 
dation of  Staupitz,  Frederick  appointed  Luther  a  professor ; 
and  he  was  also  made  preacher  in  the  church  of  the  place. 
Here  he  had  an  opportunity  of  setting  forth  his  great 
doctrine  that  we  are  justified  by  faith  and  not  by  works  ;  and 
as  this  doctrine  may  be  regarded  as  lying  at  the  root  of  the 
Eeformation,  let  us  consider  its  meaning  more  precisely. 

By  misunderstanding  the  word  "  justification  "  and  mak- 
ing it  equivalent  to  "  salvation ; "  by  misunderstanding 
the  word  "faith"  and  making  it  equivalent  to  the  "belief 
of  doctrines," — a  great  truth  has  been  changed  into  a 
great  absurdity.  The  doctrine  then  becomes  equivalent 
to  this  statement,  that  man  is  finally  saved  in  conse- 
quence of  his  opinions  rather  than  his  character.     Neither 


LUTHER  AND   LOYOLA.  245 

Paul,  Augustine,  or  Luther  ever  taught  such  a  doctrine  as 
this.  Their  teaching  is  very  different.  By  Justification 
they  mean  not  future  salvatic^n  but  present  i)ardon ;  by 
Faith  they  mean  not  intellectual  belief  but  trust  in  God. 
The  question  they  propose  to  answer  is  this :  "When  man 
Ixicomes  conscious  of  his  sinfulness,  mourns  his  separation 
from  God,  feels  the  diiUculty  of  keei)ing  liis  resolutions 
and  of  living  a  holy  life,  how  shall  he  obtain  peace,  pardon, 
and  union  with  God  ?  "  The  Jewisli  law  answered :  By 
()l)edieuce  and  the  influence  of  certain  sacrifices.  The 
Komish  Church  answered :  By  confession,  penance,  and 
absolution.  Moralists  answer :  By  reforming  your  char- 
acter and  doing  good  actions.  To  an  earnest  and  conscien- 
tious mind  these  are  all  found  to  be  insufficient.  The 
Jewish  sacrifices  could  not  make  the  comers  thereunto 
perfect,  '*  for  then  would  they  not  have  ceased  to  be  offered  ? 
—  because  the  worsliippers,  once  purged,  would  have  had 
no  more  conscience  of  sin."  They  produced  a  transient, 
not  a  permanent  peace.  The  penances  of  the  Bomish 
Church,  even  when  accompanied  with  the  formal  absolu- 
tion of  tlie  priest,  are  not  always  sufficient  to  relieve  the 
conscience  ;  for,  even  tliough  one  believes  ever  so  firndy 
in  the  right  of  the  priest  to  absolve,  there  is  always  the 
possibility  of  doubting  wliether  the  penitent  has  fulfilled 
the  conditions  on  wliich  absolution  was  given.  Still  less 
can  moral  actions  and  struggles  to  obey  produce  peace,  for 
these  are  always  imperfect  and  can  never  appear  satisfac- 
tory to  the  penitent  himself.  The  more  earnest  he  is,  the 
more  does  he  perceive  the  deficiencies  of  his  own  efforts 
Therefore  tlie  only  way  to  attain  pardon  and  inward  rest  is 
to  receive  it  as  a  gift  from  God  without  the  intervention 
of  priest  or  ceremony.  By  coming  to  God  at  once,  by 
faith  in  his  promise  of  pardon  tlirougli  Christ,  and  relying 
on  that  manifestation  of  love  to  the  sinner  which  he  has 


246         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

made  in  Christ,  —  this  serenity  of  the  soul  can  be  attained, 
this  reconciliation  with  God  secured. 

This  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Taith,  learned  by  Lu- 
ther from  his  own  deep  experience  and  not  from  books 
or  men,  contains  the  germ  of  the  Eeformation.  Tliis  is 
its  positive  principle.  The  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  right  of  ^^rivate  judgment,  are  merely  inferences 
from  it,  and  are  in  fact  negative  principles.  Though  very 
important,  they  are  secondary  to  the  doctrine  of  an  im- 
mediate access  to  God's  love.  Logically  and  historically 
they  are  secondary.  Luther  did  not  begin  by  denying 
tlie  authority  of  the  Church  and  claiming  the  right  of 
private  judgment,  and  then,  using  this  right,  discover  the 
doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith;  but  because  he  had 
first  acquired  faith  in  God's  free  gi'ace,  he  denied  the 
Church's  claims  which  interfered  between  his  soul  and 
God.  It  was  not  a  desire  for  intellectual  freedom,  it  was 
not  opposition  to  Church  authority,  which  was  the  spring 
of  the  Eeformation,  but  specific  resistance  to  that  doctrine 
of  Indulgences  which  seemed  to  Luther  to  overthrow  en- 
tirely the  doctrine  of  Justification ;  for  if  a  man  could 
be  justified  by  buying  an  Indulgence,  he  did  not  need  to 
be  justified  by  Faith. 

§  3.  Luther  opposes  the  sale  of  Indulgences.  He  appears 
hefore  the  Diet  of  Worms.  —  The  sale  of  Indulgences  at 
first  was  comparatively  an  innocent  thing.  The  penances 
inflicted  by  the  Church  as  temporal  punishments  were 
commuted  by  the  payment  of  a  fine;  but  in  order  to  be 
forgiven,  repentance  and  faith  were  considered  necessary. 
The  money  thus  obtained  was  spent  for  the  relief  of  tlie 
poor,  or  for  building  churches ;  but  it  proved  so  profitable 
a  source  of  income  to  the  Eomish  See  that  soon  its  prin- 
cipal revenue  was  derived  from  it,  and  then  it  was  taught 
that  sin  could  be  atoned  for  at  once  by  the  payment  of 


LUTHEU    AND   LOYOLA.  247 

money.  The  doctrine  wa.s  that  Christ  and  the  saints  had 
done  an  extra  amount  of  good  works,  —  more  than  was 
necessary  for  their  own  salvation,  —  and  tliat  tliis  super- 
fluous stock  of  goodness  was  passed  to  the  credit  of  the 
Churcli,  and  could  be  transferred  by  tlie  priesthood  to  any 
person  to  wliom  tliey  chose  to  sell  it.  Tetzel,  the  Do- 
minican monk  who  travelled  through  Germany  to  sell 
Indulgences  while  Lutlier  was  preaching  and  lecturing 
at  Wittenberg,  carried  this  abuse  to  its  height. 

Bidbre  we  come  to  this  controversy  about  Indulgences, 
which  was  the  breaking  out  of  the  Reformation,  we  must 
refer  to  Luther's  previous  history.  He  now  preached  at 
Wittenberg  in  an  old  wooden  chapel,  thirty  feet  by  twenty, 
whose  walls  were  propped  to  keep  them  from  falling. 
From  a  pulpit  made  of  rude  planks  he  spoke  in  words 
of  eloquent  persuasion  to  the  hearts  of  many.  "  When 
Christ  came,"  says  a  contemporary,  "  it  pleased  God  that 
he  should  be  born  in  a  manger ;  and  now  when  he  comes 
again,  and  is  born  a  second  time,  it  is  in  this  rude  enclo- 
sure." Take  this  example  of  his  style  of  preaching.  His 
text  was  on  one  occasion  the  first  commandment :  "  Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  Me."  He  went  on  thus  :  — 

"All  the  sons  of  Adam  are  idolaters.  There  are  two  kinds 
of  Idolatry,  —  the  one  in  outward  action  ;  the  other  in  our 
hearts.  By  the  outward,  mau  worships  wood  and  stone,  reptiles 
or  stars.  By  the  inward,  man,  not  rendering  outward  homage 
to  the  creature,  yet  in  his  heart  loves  it  and  trusts  in  it.  You 
do  not  bend  the  knee  before  riches  and  honor,  but  in  your 
heart  you  worship  them.  You  give  them  your  heart,  the 
noblest  part  of  your  nature.  Alas  !  with  your  bodies  you 
worship  God,  and  with  your  spirits  the  creature." 

In  1510,  Luther  was  sent  to  liome  on  affairs  of  his 
Order.      There  he  saw  with  his  own  eves  the  disorders 


248         EVENTS    AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

which  had  crept  into  the  heart  of  the  Church,  —  saw  con- 
vents full  of  indolent  and  luxurious  monks  ;  saw  the  Pope, 
Julius  II.,  the  man  of  war  who  swore  at  God  for  sfivino-  the 
victory  to  the  French  troops,  and  said :  "  Holy  Swiss  !  pray 
for  us  ! "  There  Lutlier  saw  the  priests  hurrying  through 
their  Masses  and  expressing  atheistical  sentiments  in  the 
midst  of  the  most  solemn  services.  There  he  heard  that 
murderers  and  sensualists  had  occupied  the  papal  throne ; 
and  he  carried  away  an  acquaintance  with  the  real  state  of 
things  which  he  always  felt  was  invaluable,  "  I  would  not," 
he  afterwards  said,  "  for  a  hundred  tliousand  florins  have 
missed  seeing  Kome.  If  I  had  not  seen  it  myself,  I  might 
have  been  troubled  lest  I  had  been  unjust  to  the  Pope." 

After  his  return  to  Germany  he  was  very  busy  in  his 
various  pursuits  until  the  year  1517,  when  Tetzel  arrived 
with  his  Induloences.  We  all  have  heard  of  his  outrafj^e- 
ous  proceedings.  It  was  more  than  Luther  could  bear; 
and  fixing  his  ninety-five  theses  to  the  door  of  the  church, 
Oct.  31,  1517,  he  by  that  action  made  an  epoch  in  history 
and  the  commencement  of  a  new  era  for  man. 

Following  up  this  act  Luther  wrote  against  Indulgences 
and  their  sale,  and  his  pamphlets  spread  quickly  through 
Germany.  The  art  of  printing,  invented  so  short  a  time 
before,  seemed  sent  by  Providence  to  aid  in  the  Eeforma- 
tion.  He  wrote  a  pamphlet  addressed  to  Leo  X. ;  but  Leo, 
who  at  first  said  :  "  Brother  Martin  is  a  pretty  good  fellow," 
and  treated  the  matter  lightly,  at  last  saw  that  it  was  grow- 
ing serious,  and  in  1518  cited  Luther  to  appear  at  Eome 
in  sixty  days  to  answer  for  his  heresies;  or,  failing  thereof, 
to  be  excommunicated.  Frederic  of  Saxony,  Lutlier's 
patron,  contrived  to  have  his  examination  held  at  Augs- 
burg by  the  Papal  Legate,  Cajetan,  instead  of  at  Eome. 
The  Legate  was  mild,  but  insisted  peremptorily  that  Luther 
should  retract  and  submit  to  the  Church,  which  he  as 


LUTHER  AND   LOYOLA.  249 

steadily  refused ;  so  the  conference  came  to  nothing.  The 
Legate  asked :  "  Where,  if  you  do  not  submit,  can  you 
remain  in  safety  ? "  Luther  answered  :  "  Under  Heaven  ! " 

After  tliis  the  ro})e  demanded  Lutliur  of  tlie  Elector 
Frederic,  who  hesitated  and  procrastinated  until,  by  the 
deatli  of  tlie  Emperor  of  Germany  and  his  own  appoint- 
ment as  Imi)erial  Vicar,  Frederic  became  so  powerful  that 
the  Tope  could  not  comi)el  him  to  obey.  Martin  Luther 
then  wrote  his  book  on  the  "  Babylonish  Captivity,"  in 
wliich  he  taught  tliat  Christ  was  kept  a  prisoner  at  Kome. 
Then  tlie  Pope  issued  a  Bull  of  Excommunication,  and 
Lutlier  publicly  burned  it  at  the  city  gates.  This  was  in 
1520.  With  incredible  industry  he  continued  to  publish 
book  after  book,  all  written  with  an  energy  and  fiie  which 
caused  them  to  be  everywhere  read.  All  the  printers  and 
booksellers  were  on  the  side  of  Luther,  and  helped  to 
circulate  his  writings. 

Li  the  following  year,  1521,  Charles  V.,  now  Emperor, 
summoned  Luther  to  the  Imperial  Council  of  Princes 
of  the  German  Empire,  holding  their  Diet  at  Worms,  to 
answer  the  charges  against  him.  IIuss  and  Jerome,  a 
hundred  years  before,  having  had  a  safe-conduct  from  the 
Emperor  like  that  now  offered  to  Luther,  had  been  burned 
in  spite  of  it  by  the  Council  of  Constance.  Luther  never- 
theless went  to  Worms,  saying :  "  I  will  go  to  Worms 
though  there  should  be  as  many  devils  there  as  there  are 
tiles  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses."  He  went,  and  before  the 
Emperor  and  princes,  he  gave  his  reasons  in  clear  strong 
and  cogent  language,  first  in  German  and  then  in  Latin. 
They  replied  :  "  We  want  no  reasons,  but  short  answers. 
Will  you  recant  ?  Yes  or  no  ? "  Then  Luther  uttered  the 
memorable  words :  — 

**  I  vrill  give  an  answer,  —  an  answer  without  teeth  or 
horns.     This  is  my  answer :   Convince  me  by  clear  proofs  of 


250         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Scripture  and  sufficient  reasons,  and  I  submit.  The  popes  and 
councils  have  often  erred.  I  cannot  deny  plain  Scripture  at 
their  command.  It  is  not  safe  nor  wise  to  act  against  one's 
conscience.  Here  I  stand  ;  I  cannot  do  otherwise ;  God  help 
me,  —  Amen." 

The  Spaniards  were  for  burniDg  him,  and  advised  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.,  then  only  twenty  years  old,  to  that 
effect,  using  the  maxim  that  no  faith  need  be  kept  with 
heretics ;  but  the  honest  German  blood  in  the  veins  of 
Charles  revolted  against  this  perfidy,  and  he  said :  "  If 
truth  is  to  be  found  nowhere  else  in  the  world  it  ought  to 
be  found  in  the  German  Emperors."  So  Luther  went  away 
in  safety ;  but  Frederic  of  Saxony,  fearing  that  he  should 
not  be  able  much  longer  to  protect  him,  had  him  secretly 
carried  to  the  Castle  of  Wartburg.  There  he  translated 
the  Bible,  and  inundated  Germany  with  his  writings.  His 
boldness  increased  continually.  He  attacked  not  only  the 
papal  authority,  but  the  doctrines  of  Purgatory,  Indul- 
gences, Invocation  of  Saints,  Eelics,  Confession,  the  Seven 
Sacraments,  and  Transubstantiation. 

His  opinions  spread  far  and  wide.  Princes  and  people 
gave  in  their  adherence  to  them.  He  returned  to  Witten- 
berg and  from  there,  as  a  centre,  acted  in  all  directions  in 
organizing  the  Protestant  churches. 

He  was  now  forty  years  old.  Up  to  this  time  his  suc- 
cess had  been  wonderful  What  councils  and  princes  had 
tried  in  vain  to  do,  he  had  accomplished.  He  had  checked 
in  mid  career  that  mighty  spiritual  power  before  which 
kingdoms  and  monarchs  had  quailed.  Now  he  met  with 
troubles.  The  Keformation  escaped  from  his  hands.  Ul- 
traists  went  beyond  him,  and  brought  disgrace  on  his 
doctrines  by  carrying  them  out  to  extravagant  conclusions. 
He  struggled  like  a  hero  against  his  swarming  opponents. 
The  cool  and  sharp-witted  Erasmus  got  the  better  of  him 


LUTIIEll    AND    l.uVoLA.  251 

in  a  controversy  about  Free  Will.  With  Carlstadt,  one  of 
the  earliest  reformers,  he  disputed  long  and  earnestly  about 
image-breaking  and  antinomianism.  With  Zwingle  and 
his  party  lie  disputed  about  the  Lord's  Supper.  Next 
came  the  Wars  of  the  Peasants.  The  world  seemed  turncid 
upside  down.  Then  followed  the  outbreak  of  the  Anabaj)- 
tists  at  ]\lunster,  with  their  immoralities  and  excesses. 
Liberty  had  become  license ;  but  not  the  less  he  labored  on 
in  faith  and  prayer. 

In  1525  Luther  did  a  very  courageous  action.  He,  a 
priest  and  monk,  married,  —  and  he  married  a  nun  who 
had  left  her  convent.  That  a  priest  should  have  illegiti- 
mate children  was  in  that  age  considered  no  very  grave 
offence  ;  the  popes  had  many  ;  but  that  a  priest  should 
marry  was  thought  a  terrible  crime.  Luther  never  re- 
gretted it.  "  1  am  not  devoured  with  love  for  my  wife," 
said  he ;  "  I  simply  love  her."  This  wife  was  beautiful 
and  good,  and  his  letters  to  her  are  marked  with  a  plaj^ful 
affection. 

So  he  lived,  so  labored  a  little  while  longer  amid  the 
stormy  years ;  but  he  did  not  survive  to  see  the  beginning 
of  the  Keligious  Wars  which  desolated  Germany  for  so  long 
a  period,  and  those  later  terrible  ones  in  which  the  cruel 
Tilly,  Wallenstein,  and  Gustavus  Adolphus  gained  alter- 
nate victories  over  each  other  in  the  name  of  Christ. 
Then,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  cities  were  sacked  and  burnt, 
men,  women,  and  children  cruelly  tortured,  and  many  a 
peaceful  State  turned  into  a  desolate  wilderness.  Hapi)ily, 
Luther  did  not  live  to  see  these  things.  He  died  at  Eisleben, 
where  he  was  born,  the  very  year  that  the  first  Religious 
War  began.  It  was  in  February,  1546,  that  he  was  sud- 
denly taken  away,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age. 

None  but  those  blinded  by  prejudice  and  party-spirit 
can  deny  the  heroic  greatness  and  sincere  })icty  of  Lutlier's 


252         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

character.  There  have  been  men  of  larger  intellect, 
greater  subtlety,  comprehensiveness,  depth,  —  men  whose 
virtues  have  been  more  serene,  pure,  and  Christ-like ;  but 
where  shall  we  find  another  whose  thoughts  were  like 
actions,  whose  words  rang  like  blows,  who  had  such  strong 
sense  and  genial  freshness,  and  such  depth  of  conviction  ? 

§  4.  Results  of  his  labors.  The  Protestant  Reformation  a 
necessity  and  a  blessing.  —  Immense  results  followed  from 
the  labors  of  Luther.  It  is  the  custom  now  for  many  not 
Eoman  Catholics  to  decry  the  Lutheran  Eeformation  ;  but 
even  Koman  Catholics  have  often  admitted  that  some 
Eeformation  of  the  Church  and  of  the  papacy  was  neces- 
sary,—  and  in  what  other  way  could  it  have  taken  place  ? 
"Ah!  but,"  say  some,  "the  Church  should  have  heen 
reformed  from  within ;  Luther  should  not  have  separated 
from  it."  The  practical  question  to  be  answered  by  his- 
tory is,  —  Could  it  have  been  so  reformed  ?  I  think  we 
have  evidence  enough  that  it  could  not. 

The  evils  and  scandals  of  the  papacy  had  long  before 
reached  their  acme  ;  numerous  attempts  had  been  made  to 
correct  them,  but  in  vain.  There  were  two,  three,  and 
even  four  popes  at  one  time  claiming  the  papacy;  and  this 
schism  lasted  forty  years.  As  long  before  as  the  twelfth 
century  St.  Bernard,  in  stern  words,  denounced  the  enor- 
mities committed  at  the  papal  court  and  in  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  in  such  language  as  this :  "  All  justice  is 
annihilated  ;  the  episcopal  office  has  sunk  into  contempt ; 
the  guilt  is  laid  on  thee,  Pope  Victor,  and  thy  court." 
Later  he  addressed  Pope  Eugenius  thus :  "  You,  who  were 
ordained  to  be  the  shepherd  of  souls,  go  about  dressed  in 
gold  and  jewels ;  you  are  better  suited  to  be  a  shepherd 
of  devils  than  of  sheep ;  you  stand  in  Peter's  place,  yet 
you  are  a  fitter  successor  of  Constantine  than  of  Peter." 
Bernard  also  testified  against  the  Church  which  professes 


LUTHER   AND   LOYOLA.  253 

to  be  spotless,  tlie  Ih-idc  of  Christ:  "A  fatal  pestilence  lias 
gone  tlirougli  the  wJKjle  Chmch-body.  You  call  yourselves 
servants  of  Christ ;  you  are  rather  servants  of  Anticln-ist ! " 
lioniface  VIII.  (1294)  had  two  swords  carried  Ijcfore  liiiii 
on  Palm  Sunday  as  a  sign  of  his  temporal  supremacy  as 
well  as  spiritual,  and  called  out :  '' Eccc  duo  (jbuld;  I  am 
Pope  ami  I  am  Emperor."  So  the  evils  of  the  Church 
constantly  increased  till  the  time  of  Luther.  Seventy 
shameful  crimes  were  })rove(l  against  the  Pope  John  XXIII. 
and  he  was  deposed.  In  1425  the  famous  Cardinal  Peter 
of  Ailly  wrote  a  hook  on  the  Keformation  of  the  Church, 
in  which  he  declared  it  was  becoming  more  corrupt  con- 
tinually. At  last,  in  the  papal  families  and  among  the 
cardinals,  tlie  greatest  ciimes  became  frequent.  Innocent 
VIII.  (141)2)  had  sixteen  sons  and  daughters.  He  had  also 
a  secret  alliance  with  the  Turkish  Sultan  while  he  sold  In- 
dulgences under  pretence  of  a  campaign  against  him.  After 
him  came  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  one  of  the  worst  men  that 
ever  lived.  Then  followed  Julius  II.,  of  whose  time  the 
Italian  head  of  the  Carmelites  said  that  all  things  at 
Pome  were  venal,  that  priests,  sacrifices,  and  prayers  were 
all  bouirht  and  sold. 

Protestantism  did  not  begin  with  Martin  Luther.  It 
had  louff  existed  within  the  Church.  We  have  seen  how 
the  great  Bernard  denoimced  the  sins  of  Pome  and  the 
papacy  in  his  day,  though  he  was  the  most  devoted  of 
Roman  Catholics;  how  Savonarola  also  thundered  from 
his  ])ul])it  in  tlie  Cathedral  of  Florence  against  the  crimes 
of  prelates,  and  sjnritual  wickedness  sitting  in  the  chair  of 
Peter  ;  but  these  were  only  more  striking  examples  of  the 
efforts  which  had  long  been  made  by  those  within  the 
Church  to  reform  it.  Such  efforts  had  existed  for  centuries 
as  an  included  Protestantism ;  after  Luther  they  became 
an  excluded  Protestantism. 


254         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

The  evils  which  corrupted  the  Church  existed  in  the 
papal  court,  in  the  morals  of  the  secular  priests,  and  in 
the  condition  of  the  monks.  The  evils  of  the  papacy  had 
become  so  great  that  in  the  time  of  the  Warrior  Pope, 
Julius  II.,  the  King  of  France,  Louis  XII.,  stamped  on  his 
coins  a  threat  to  overthrow  the  power  of  Eome,  which  he 
called  Babylon.  He  prepared  to  make  war  on  the  Pope, 
and  obtained  the  opinion  of  the  clergy  of  France  that  he 
had  a  right  to  do  so.  Many  attempts  were  made  to  call 
General  Councils  to  depose  a  bad  pope,  but  they  were 
usually  unsuccessful.  Sixtus  IV.  laid  an  interdict  on 
Florence,  but  the  clergy  of  Florence  appealed  to  a  General 
Council  and  declared  his  interdict  null  and  void,  and  the 
Pope  was  obliged  to  yield ;  yet  shortly  after,  the  worst  of 
popes,  Alexander  VI.,  was  able  to  torture  and  execute  Sa- 
vonarola in  the  great  Square  of  Florence. 

The  religious  orders,  at  first  so  self-sacrificing,  fell 
into  corruption.  The  attempts  to  reform  their  convents 
usually  failed.  The  monks  sometimes  resisted  the  bish- 
ops and  the  papal  legates  by  open  force.  At  the  refor- 
mation of  the  Benedictine  convent  in  Hildesheim,  John 
Busch,  having  expelled  an  insubordinate  monk,  the  monk's 
brother  sent  him  a  challenge.  In  1470,  thirteen  years 
before  Luther's  birth,  the  Duke  of  Lunenburg  and  the 
bishop  having  attempted  to  reform  a  convent,  the  monks 
attacked  them  and  put  them  to  flight.  The  nuns  resisted 
with  similar  violence,  and  when  the  reforming  bishop 
arrived  they  sang  a  hymn  of  malediction  against  him. 
These  monks  and  nuns  violated  their  vows.  They  lived 
in  luxury,  dividing  the  incomes  of  the  convents  among 
themselves.  Of  the  greater  horrors  and  wickedness  prac- 
tised by  the  popes,  the  monks,  and  the  priests  in  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  I  cannot  speak.  At- 
tempts to  reform  the  Church  from  within  had  proved  so 


LUTHER   AND    LOYOLA.  255 

unsuccessful  that  it  seemed  iuevitaldu  that  the  reform  must 
come  from  without,  and  this  metliud  succeeded.  As  soon 
as  the  Protestant  Clmrch  arose  the  lloman  Catholic  Church 
was  made  better. 

Undoubtedly  when  we  ask  why  it  was  that  Luther  was 
enabled  to  accomplish  that  which  Wickliffe,  IIuss,  Savon- 
arola and  so  many  others  failed  of  effecting,  and  which  so 
many  princes  and  councils  had  in  vain  essayed,  we  ought 
to  take  into  consideration  the  many  favorable  circumstances 
which  concurred  and  worked  with  him.     It  was  no  doubt 
in  the  interest  of  many  German  princes  to  free  their  land 
from  the  countless  exactions  caused  by  the  demands  of  the 
papal  courts,  by  which  the  people  were  impuverished  and 
their  own  revenues  abridged ;  no  doubt  also  the  field  had 
been  made  white  fur  tlie  harvest  by  the  labors  of  Luther's 
predecessors ;  but,  after  all,  Luther's  personality  was  very 
necessary  too.     If  the  Man  could  have  done  nothing  witli- 
out  the  fortunate  Hour,  the  Hour  would  have  passed  un- 
used unless  the  Man  had  appeared.     Luther  had  his  faults; 
but  he  will  remain  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  modern 
times,   and  also  one   of  the    noblest.      The  meaner   sort 
among  his  opponents  have  poured  out  slanders  against  his 
name ;  but  their  libels  pass  away  like  the  vapors  which 
steam  up  to  obscure  the  sun.     His  greatest  fault  perhaps 
was  in  giving  a  kind  of  half-consent  to  one  of  the  leading 
Protestant  princes  to  divorce  his  wife  and  marry  agaia 
Some  injudicious  Protestants  have  attempted  to  excuse  this 
act;  but  Bayle  justly  says  "that  the  only  thing  to  say  to 
the  Koman  Catholic  who  brings  this  charge  is  first,  that 
Luther  did  very  wrong  in  idlowing  the  divorce ;  and  second, 
that  the  popes  have  committed  far  more  enormous  sins; 
and  that,  therefore,  if  this  fault  proves  that  Luther  was 
not  an  instrument  in  God's  hands  to  reform  the  Church 
and  preach  the  trutlj,  it  proves  more  conclusive!}'-  that  the 


256         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

popes  cannot  be  vicars  of  Christ  and  the  living  omcles  of 
his  Church." 

The  character  of  Luther  had  a  mountainous  grandeur. 
When  near  Mont  Blanc  you  perceive  the  ragged  preci- 
pices and  shapeless  ravines  which  deform  it;  but  as  you 
recede  from  it  into  the  distance  it  appears  to  tower  higher 
and  higher  above  its  neighboring  summits,  its  features  are 
softened  by  the  intervening  atmosphere  and  melted  into 
stranae  tints  and  beautiful  shadows,  and  it  stands  the  ob- 
ject  of  reverence  and  wonder,  —  one  of  the  most  sublime 
objects  in  nature,  and  most  beautiful  creations  of  God. 
So  stands  Luther,  growing  more  and  more  the  mark  of 
reverence  through  succeeding  centuries,  —  the  real  author 
of  modern  liberty  of  thought  and  action,  the  giant  founder 
of  modern  civilization,  pure  religion,  and  a  more  wide- 
spread virtue  than  those  which  earlier  ages  were  capable  of 
producing.^ 

§  5.  Character  of  Luther.  Extracts  from  his  Writings 
and  Conversation.  —  This  great  power  lay  in  his  personality. 
He  was,  in  the  deepest  deep  of  his  soul,  a  believer  in 
truth.  His  wliole  soul  was  steeped  in  reality.  His  eye 
was  single,  and  liis  whole  body  was  full  of  light.  He  was 
a  city  set  on  a  hill  that  could  not  be  hid.     He  was  unable 

1  His  treatment  of  the  Jews  shows  his  breadth  of  thought.  Regarding 
them  he  writes  in  his  treatise,  "That  Jesus  was  a  Jew  by  Birth,"  1523: 
"  Our  fools  —  the  papists,  bishops,  sophists,  monks  —  have  hitherto  so  dealt 
with  the  Jews  that  whoever  was  a  good  Christian  would  much  rather  have 
turned  Jew;  and  if  I  had  been  a  Jew,  and  had  seen  the  Christian  faith 
governed  by  such  blockheads  {toclpel)  and  dolts,  I  would  rather  have 
turned  swine  [sau)  than  Christian;  for  they  have  treated  the  Jews  as 
though  they  were  dogs,  not  human  beings;  could  do  no  more  than  scold- 
ing them.  Thej-,  the  Jews,  are  blood-relations,  cousins  and  brothers  of 
our  Lord;  therefore,  if  we  make  any  boast. of  blood  and  flesh,  the  Jews 
belong  more  [are  more  nearly  related]  to  Christ  than  we.  I  beg,  there- 
fore, of  my  dear  papists,  whenever  they  shall  be  tired  of  calling  me  a 
heretic  that  they  may  begin  to  call  me  a  Jew." 


LUTHER  AND   LOYOLA.  257 

to  understand  sucli  a  man  as  Erasmus,  wliu  believed  and 
yet  doubted,  wlio  believed  and  yet  did  not  utter  his  belief. 
Luther's  force  was  in  this  awiul  earnestness  which  made 
thoughts  things  to  him  ;  so  that  it  was  not  he  who  spoke, 
but  the  truth  itself  which  thundered  i'mm  his  lips,  —  the 
fact  which  stood  visibly  before  your  eyes,  lie  was  so 
possessed  and  filled  by  his  thoughts  that  all  personal 
considerations  disai)peared.  He  took  no  credit,  no  blame 
for  what  he  said.  In  this  tremenduus  energy  of  convic- 
tion he  spoke  as  one  having  authority,  and  was  able  alone 
to  balance  and  outweigh  the  Universal  Church,  the  deci- 
sions of  councils,  and  the  established  opinions  and  usages 
of  a  thousand  years.  When  the  pope  excommunicated  him, 
he  excommunicated  the  pope,  and  the  one  excommunica- 
tion seemed  as  valid  as  the  other.  Thus  he  spoke  in  re})ly 
to  what  he  called  the  Bull  of  Antichrist. 

"If  this  Bull  has  been  prepared  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
pope  and  cardinals,  I,  then,  by  virtue  of  the  power  which  I  re- 
ceived in  baptism,  making  me  a  child  of  God  and  a  joint-heir 
with  Christ,  counsel  you  in  the  Lord  that  you  repent  and 
speedily  make  an  end  of  these  devilish  atrocities,  of  these  too 
daring  impieties.  Otherwise,  with  all  true  servants  of  Christ, 
I  shall  hold  your  seat  to  be  that  of  Antichrist,  possessed  by 
the  spirit  of  Evil ;  and  if  you  persevere  ohstinatel}'  in  your 
madness,  I  anathematize  you,  and  give  you  over,  with  tliis 
your  Bull  and  all  your  decretals,  to  Satan." 

The  world  must  have  listened  with  wonder  to  words 
like  these,  and  held  its  breath  for  the  result  of  this  sin- 
gular contest,  in  which  the  weight  of  power,  precedent, 
usage,  and  numbers,  was  all  on  one  side,  and  merely  the 
authority  of  strong  conviction  on  the  other. 

Nothing  which  Luther  has  written  shows  the  depth  of 
his  convictions  more  than  his  prayer  at  Worms ;  it  seems 
poured  from  the  very  depths  of  his  soul ;  he  is  alone  with 

17 


258  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS    HISTORY, 

God  while  uttering  it.     I  give  the  following  translation  of 
a  part  of  it :  — 

"  0  almighty,  eternal  God  !  What  a  thing  is  this  world  !  How 
do  the  people  speak  against  thee  !  How  little  is  their  confidence 
in  God  !  How  weak  and  tender  is  the  flesh  ;  how  strong  and 
busy  the  Devil  with  his  apostles  and  worldly-wise  men.  How 
they  run  down  the  broad  way  to  Hell  where  the  impious  be- 
long, and  only  look  at  what  is  great  and  mighty  and  has  a  lofty 
appearance.  If  I  should  turn  my  eyes  that  way  all  would  be 
over  with  me.  The  clock  has  then  struck  ;  the  judgment  is 
over.  Ah  God  !  Ah  God  !  0  my  God,  stand  by  me  !  0  thou, 
my  God,  help  me  against  all  the  wisdom  and  reason  of  this 
world.  Do  it  thou  ;  for  thou  must  do  it,  thou  alone  !  It  is  thy 
cause ;  it  is  not  mine  !  I  have  nothing  to  do  here  with  these 
great  lords.  Oh,  how  glad  I  should  be  to  go  back  and  have 
quiet  peaceful  da^^s.  But  it  is  thy  cause,  0  God  who  art  just 
and  infinite.  Help  me,  0  thou  just  and  infinite  God  !  I  confide 
in  no  man.  It  is  vain  ;  it  is  vanity  ;  it  is  nothing,  —  all  flesh 
is  but  flesh.  0  God,  0  God  !  Dost  thou  hear  me,  0  God  ]  Art 
thou  dead  1  No!  thou  canst  not  die  ;  thou  only  hidest  thyself 
a  little.  Give  me  a  proof  if  thou  hast  chosen  me  for  this  work ; 
for  I  never  thought  to  stand  before  such  great  lords.  I  did 
not  undertake  it  myself  Come,  0  my  God !  I  am  ready.  I 
will  go  like  a  little  lamb,  for  the  cause  is  just  and  is  thine." 

With  all  this  deep  earnestness,  there  is  a  genial  love  of 
nature,  a  playfulness,  and  sometimes  a  humor  not  uncom- 
mon in  earnest  natures. 

"I  lately  saw,"  said  Luther,  "two  signs  in  the  heavens. 
I  looked  from  my  window  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and 
saw  the  stars  and  all  the  majestic  vault  of  God  sustaining 
itself,  without  my  being  able  to  perceive  the  pillars  on  which 
the  Creator  had  propped  it.  Nevertheless  it  crumbled  not 
away.  There  are  those  who  search  for  these  pillars,  and 
who  would  fain  touch  them  with  their  hands  ;  but  not  beine: 


LUTHER   AND    LOYOLA.  259 

able  to  find  tliem  they  lament,  and  four  tlie  heavens  will  fall. 
They  might  touch  them ;  the  heavens  would  never  be  moved. 
Again,  I  saw  great  lieavy  clouds,  floating  over  n)y  head  like 
the  ocean.  I  saw  no  prop  to  sustain  them;  and  still  they  fell 
not,  but  saluted  us  sadly  and  passed  on  ;  and  as  tliey  j)assed 
1  distinguished  an  arch  which  upheld  them, — a  splendid  rain- 
bow. Slight  it  was,  without  doubt,  and  delicate ;  one  could 
not  but  tremble  for  it  under  such  a  mass  of  clouds.  So  with 
us  and  our  opponents.  Our  rainbow  is  weak  ;  their  clouds  are 
heavy ;  but  the  end  will  tell  the  strength  of  the  bow." 

Luther's  belief  in  the  Devil  was  very  strong,  as  is  ofteu 
the  case  in  strong  natures.  They  like  to  give  objectivity 
to  their  doubts  and  temptations,  and  to  have  a  personal  and 
almost  visible  opponent  with  whom  to  contend.  It  is  well 
known  that  Luther  threw  his  inkstand  at  the  Devil's  head  in 
Wartburg,  and  the  spot  of  ink  is  still  shown  on  the  wall. 

"Once,"  he  says,  "in  our  monastery  at  Wittenberg,  I  dis- 
tinctly heard  the  Devil  making  a  noise.  As  I  sat  down  and 
began  to  study,  the  Devil  came  and  made  a  noise  behind  my 
stove  as  though  he  would  drag  it  aw\ay.  At  last,  as  he  woidd 
not  stop,  I  put  my  books  by  and  went  to  bed.  Another  night 
I  heard  him  overhead,  but  perceiving  it  was  the  Devil  I  paid 
no  attention,  and  went  to  sleep  again.  This  morning  when  I 
awoke,  the  Devil  said  to  me,  *  Thou  art  a  sinner.'  T  answered 
*Tell  me  something  new,  Devil,  I  knew  that  before.'  He  con- 
tinued, 'What  have  you  done  with  the  monasteries'?'  I  replied, 
'What's  that  to  thee'?  thy  accursed  worship  goes  on  as  ever.' 
The  Devil  sometimes  casts  me  into  such  despair  that  I  hardly 
know  whether  there  is  a  God.  He 'sets  the  law,  sin,  and  death 
before  my  eyes,  compels  me  to  ponder  on  this  trinity,  and 
so  torments  me.  He  has  sworn  my  death,  but  he  will  crack  a 
hollow  nut.  When  the  Devil  comes  to  me  at  night  I  give  him 
these  and  the  like  answers,  and  say,  'Devil,  I  must  now  sleep, 
for  this  is  God's  command,  to  labor  by  tlay  and  sleep  by  uiuht.' 
Then,  if  he  charge  me  with  being  a  sinner,  I  say,  to  spite  him  : 


260  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

'Holy  Satan  !  pray  for  me,'  or  'Physician,  heal  thyself!'  The 
Devil  hates  to  be  laughed  at ;  he  is  of  a  melancholy  disposition, 
and  cheerful  music  soon  puts  him  to  flight." 

Like  other  prophets,  in  whom  courage  is  often  joined 
with  self-distrust,  Luther  sometimes  expresses  his  reluc- 
tance to  do  the  work  allotted  to  him.  In  the  prayer  at 
AYorms  above  quoted,  he  says  how  glad  he  should  be  to 
go  back  to  his  quiet  and  peaceful  days.  So  we  have  seen 
Jeanne  d'Arc,  in  the  midst  of  her  triumphal  success,  long 
to  go  back  to  her  humble  home  and  her  sheep.  So  the 
prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  men  wuth  souls  of  fire  and 
nerves  of  steel,  tried  to  excuse  themselves  from  their  w^ork, 
and  asked  the  Lord  to  send  some  one  else  in  their  place. 
In  his  "  Table-talk  "  Luther  says :  "  If  I  could  have  fore- 
seen all  I  have  had  to  do,  ten  horses  could  not  have  drawn 
me  to  this  preaching." 

When  we  think  of  what  Luther  accomplished,  we  are 
amazed  at  the  wonderful  power  there  may  be  in  one  hu- 
man soul.  His  traDslation  of  the  Bible,  considering  the 
time  in  which  he  did  it  and  the  few  books  or  scholars  he 
had  to  help  him,  is  almost  a  miracle.  His  clioice  of  words 
in  translating  the  Hebrew,  I  have  been  told  by  a  learned 
Jewush  scholar,  shows  a  kind  of  inspiration.^  Luther  guessed 
at  meanings  which  liave  only  in  later  years  been  found  to 
be  the  true  ones.  Heine  says  of  Luther :  "  He  translated 
the  Bible  from  a  language  which  had  ceased  to  exist,  into 
one  which  had  not  yet  arrived."  Heine  adds  :  "  Our  dear 
master's  thoughts  had  not  only  wings  but  hands  ;  his  faults 

1  My  friend  Dr.  Gottlieil  says:  "I  have  often  occasion  to  admire  his 
intuitive  guesses  at  the  truth,  and  to  follow  him  rather  than  the  more 
learned  commentators.  He  was  in  fullest  sympathy  with  the  writers,  and 
understood  them  by  touch,  if  I  may  say  so,  where  sight  forsook  him.  His 
translation  is  far  superior,  in  vigor  and  beauty,  to  that  of  the  English 
Vulgate.  The  latter  is  the  work  of  bishops  and  scholars,  the  former  that 
of  a  poet  and  a  great  original  nature." 


LUTHER   AND    LOYOLA.  2G1 

have  been  more  useful  to  us  tlian  tlie  virtues  of  better 
meu  ;  how  Luther  got  the  language  into  which  he  trans- 
lated the  Bible  is,  to  this  hour,  incomprehensible  to  me." 

Mendelssohn, — himself  a  master  of  German  style,  and 
classic  translator  of  the  Pentateuch  and  tlie  Psalms, — 
says  of  Luther :  Wo  er  schlccht  iibcrsctzt  hat,  hat  er  doch 
betrcfflich  vcrdcittscht,  — "  Where  he  has  blundered  as  a 
translator,  he  has  inimitably  Germanized."  This  expresses 
the  fact  exactly.  He  gave  the  people  a  German  Bible 
,in  the  full  sense  of  the  word. 

In  this  great  warrior,  every  one  of  whose  words  was 
half  a  battle,  there  was  a  strange  tenderness  and  a  strong 
sense  of  humor.  In  Luther's  "  Table-talk,"  one  of  the 
most  charming  of  autobiogra[)liies,  these  traits  appear. 

Here  are  some  of  his  conversational  utterances  :  — 

"  The  heart  of  a  human  being  is  like  the  stones  in  a  mill  ; 
put  coni  in,  and  the  stones,  going  round  and  round,  grind  it 
out ;  but  if  no  corn  is  there,  the  stones,  still  going  round  and 
round,  will  grind  themselves  away." 

"  When  I  go  into  the  pulpit  and  see  the  simple  ignorant  people 
waiting  to  be  fed,  I  put  no  Hebrew,  Greek,  or  Latin  into  my 
sermon ;  but  when  Melancthon  and  I  get  together,  we  are  so 
curled  and  finical  with  our  learning,  that  God  liimself  wonders 
at  us." 

Luther's  love  and  admiration  for  Melancthon  were  very 
touching.  His  own  rough  nature  melted  in  the  presence 
of  Melancthon's  gentleness. 

Melancthon's  "  Commonplace  Book "  he  put  next  to 
the  Bible. 

"  Melancthon  has  both  words  and  matter ;  Erasmus  has 
words  but  not  matter  ;  Luther  has  matter  but  no  words ;  Carl- 
stadt  has  neither  words  nor  matter." 


262  EVENTS    AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

"  For  my  part,  I  have  so  often  deceived  God  by  promising 
to  be  good,  that  I  will  promise  no  more ;  but  will  only  pray  for 
a  happy  hour  when  it  may  please  the  Lord  to  make  me  good." 

''  Some  one  said  that  the  first  of  the  Books  of  Moses  was  not 
written  by  Moses.  Lather  answered  :  '  What  matters  who 
wrote  it  ]  It  is  Moses's  book,  because  it  has  IMoses's  thoughts.' " 

"  If  you  put  a  globe  on  a  table  one  point  of  the  table  sup- 
ports the  whole  globe ;  so  one  sentence  of  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
Our  Father  in  Heaven,  supports  all  our  Christian  faith.  Though 
I  am  an  old  Doctor  of  Divinity  I  have  not  yet  perfectly  learned 
that.  If  I  really  believed  that  God  who  has  made  all  things  is 
my  Father,  then  I  should  see  that  I  also  am  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth,  that  Christ  is  my  brother,  and  the  angels  my  servants." 

We  now  pass  on  to  consider  the  great  opponent  of 
Luther,  the  founder  of  the  Company  of  the  Jesuits. 

§  6.  Early  Life  and  Conversion  of  Loyola.  —  Ignatius 
Loyola  (called  in  the  judicial  acts  Don  Inigo  Lopez  de 
Eecaldo)  was  born  in  the  year  1491,  eight  years  after 
Luther,  in  the  Province  of  Biscay,  and  in  the  district 
which  lies  adjacent  to  France.  This  is  the  region  of  the 
Basques,  that  remarkable  people  whose  language  Humboldt 
thought  to  be  the  oldest  now  spoken  on  the  earth.  Loy- 
ola came  of  an  ancient  family,  and  of  a  race  so  noble  that 
its  chief  was  always  invited  to  do  homage  to  his  sovereign 
by  a  special  writ.  He  was  educated  at  the  court  of  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  applying  himself  to  knightly  attain- 
ments, and  became  distinguished  in  warlike  and  literary 
pursuits.  AVhen  thirty  years  old,  in  defending  Pampeluna 
which  was  besieged  by  the  French,  he  was  seriously  injured 
in  his  leg  by  a  cannon  ball.  Of  this  wound  he  nearly  died, 
and  recovered  with  the  symmetry  of  his  limbs  much  im- 
paired. It  is  said  that  he  bore  without  murmur  a  severe 
surgical  operation,  in  hope  of  preventing  this  deformity, 


LUTHER   AND   LOYOLA.  26 


Q 


but  in  vain,  Duriiii^  liis  confinement  he  read  tlie  lives  of 
the  saints,  and  had  liis  thoughts  and  wishes  turned  into  a 
new  channel,  lie  longed  to  rival  these  holy  men.  lie  de- 
termined to  go  barefoot  to  the  Holy  Land,  to  clothe  himself 
with  sackcloth,  and  to  accomplish  greater  deeds  than  had 
been  heretofore  done  by  any  saint.  In  fact  his  and)ition 
was  as  yet  merely  turned  into  a  new  channel ;  his  heart 
was  not  changed.  He  had  experienced  neither  penitence 
nor  yet  the  love  of  a  heart  whose  sins  are  forgiven.  As 
soon  as  he  was  able  he  left  his  castle  of  Loyola  and  went 
to  Montserrat,  a  monastery  famous  for  the  concourse  of 
pilgrims.  On  his  way  he  was  tempted  to  pursue  and 
chastise  a  ^loor  who  had  argued  against  the  immaculate 
character  of  the  Virgin  Mary ;  but  leaving  it  to  his  horse 
to  decide,  the  peaceable  animal  turned  up  the  rcjad  to  the 
convent.  Here  Loyola  gave  his  garments  to  a  poor  man 
and  his  horse  to  the  convent,  watched  all  night  in  prayer 
before  the  altar  of  the  Virgin,  and  dedicated  himself  to 
her  service.^  He  made  a  general  confession  of  his  sins, 
whicli  lasted  three  days ;  and  then  departed  on  foot  and  in 
ragged  clothes  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem.  Stopping  on  the 
way,  he  performed  various  penances  of  the  severest  char- 
acter, and  finally  retired  into  a  cave  to  pray.  Here  the 
sense  of  his  sins  began  to  come  again  heavily  upon  his  soul; 
he  was  tempted  to  despair,  and  thought  of  throwing  him- 
self from  the  window  or  opening  in  the  cave.  He  had 
now  reached  the  same  state  of  remorse  into  whicli  Luther, 
a  few  years  before,  had  been  plunged  ;  but  these  two  men, 
destined  to  be  the  leaders  of  antagonistic  movements, 
emerged  from  this  region  of  spiritual  sorrow  by  difierent 
paths.  Luther  found  his  comfort  in  the  words  of  the 
Bible,  and  in  Paul's  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith. 
Loyola,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  have  determined  to 

1  March  24,  1522. 


264         EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN   KELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

put  down  his  remorse  by  an  act  of  the  will.  He  concluded 
that  such  thoughts  came  from  an  evil  spirit,  and  he  resolved 
to  doubt  no  more.  The  outward  supports  of  his  resolution 
were  the  visions  which  appeared  to  him  contiuurJly.  He 
imagined  he  saw  the  Viroin ;  he  thouf^ht  he  saw  Christ: 
he  even  believed  that  he  beheld  the  Trinity  Avith  the  eye 
of  the  flesh.  His  faith  did  not  rest  either  on  reason  or  on 
Scripture  as  Luther's  did,  but  he  was  as  ready  as  Luther 
to  live  or  die  for  it. 

From  this  cave  he  departed  on  his  pilgrimage  to  Jeru- 
salem,^ but  did  not  remain,  as  the  Papal  Legate  com- 
manded him  to  return.  He  obeved,  rememberiuor  enouc^h 
of  his  military  life  to  place  at  the  head  of  his  virtues  the 
soldier's  virtue,  Obedience.  Eeturning  from  Jerusalem  he 
began  to  go  through  a  course  of  regular  study  preparatory 
to  preaching,  but  found  it  very  difficult  to  turn  off  his 
thoughts  from  spiritual  meditations  to  the  details  of  gram- 
mar. He  persevered,  however,  till  he  acquired  control 
over  his  luental  habits.  The  remarkable  effects  of  his 
conversations  and  exhortations  on  the  minds  of  others 
caused  him  to  be  suspected  of  magic,  Lutheranism,  or  what 
was  called  Hluminatism ;  but  after  an  exaniination  by  the 
Inquisition  he  was  acquitted.  He  studied  at  Alcala,  Sala- 
manca, and  Paris.  At  each  of  these  places  he  labored  to 
convert  the  students  to  a  religious  life.  Some  of  his  early 
converts  at  Paris  were  Peter  Faber,  Francis  Xavier  (after- 
wards the  Apostle  to  the  East  Indies),  and  Peter  Laynez. 
They  went  through  the  "  Spiritual  Exercises "  with  him, 
and  he  made  them  fast  three  days  and  nights  at  a  time. 
Six  of  these  young  disciples  agreed  with  Loyola  to  take  a 
vow  to  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  God  in  any 
way  the  Pope  might  direct.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  order  of  Jesuits,  and  this  event  took  place  at  Paris  in 

^  He  reached  Jerusalem  Sept.  4,  1523. 


LUTHER   AND    LOYOLA.  2G5 

1534,  in  tlie  forty-third  year  of  Loyola's  age.  They  were 
to  finish  their  studies  first,  and  tlie  vow  was  to  take  effect 
in  tliree  years. 

§  7.  The  Society  of  Jcsiis.  Its  Hlatory  and  Character.  — 
T)ie  Ihde  of  tlie  Society  of  Jesus,  in  addition  to  tlie 
three  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  common  to 
all  other  Catholic  Orders,  contained  a  fourth  vow  l)y  which 
tlie  mendjers  bound  themselves  to  go  to  any  country  wliere 
the  Pope  should  send  them  as  missionaries.  The  Kule 
was  approved  in  1540,  and  in  the  following  year  Ignatius 
LK)yoia  was  elected  the  first  General. 

The  body  over  whom  this  General  presides  consists  of 
four  classes;  the  Professed,  who,  having  gone  through  the 
other  stages,  have  taken  all  vows ;  the  Coadjutors,  who 
assist  the  Professed  in  teaching,  preaching,  and  the  direc- 
tion of  souls ;  the  Scholastics,  engaged  in  study  or  teach- 
ing ;  and  the  Novices,  who  spend  two  years  in  spiritual 
exercises,  such  as  prayer  and  meditation.  The  Provincials 
are  those  who  govern  the  districts,  or  provinces,  under  the 
General,  to  whom  regular  reports  are  made,  at  regular 
intervals,  of  the  conduct  and  cliaracter  of  tlie  mendiers. 
In  all  these  gradations  the  subordination  is  com])lete. 
Every  member  of  tlie  order  is  required  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  his  superior  "  like  a  staff  in  tlie  hands  of  an  old  man," 
or  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter.  Pcrinde  ac  si 
cadaver,  —  "  You  are  to  lie  as  a  corpse,"  is  the  demand. 
The  military  training  of  Loyola  caused  him  to  constitute 
his  society  like  soldiers  in  an  army  :  — 

"  Not  theirs  to  reason  why, 
Not  theirs  to  make  reply; 
Theirs  but  to  Jo  aiul  die." 

The  outward  and  immediate  success  of  the  society  justi- 
fied the  hopes  of  its  founder  and  the  wisdom  of  his  plans. 


266  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  the  society  had  thirteen  prov- 
inces, chiefly  in  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy.  In  1762  they 
had  forty  provinces,  twenty-four  houses  of  the  professed 
Jesuits,  six  hundred  and  sixty-nine  colleges,  and  twenty- 
two  thousand  members. 

The  influence  of  this  order  was  very  great.  The  Jesuits 
spread  over  Europe  in  a  few  years,  taking  possession  of 
the  pulpits,  the  schools,  and  the  confessionals.  They  were 
most  accomplished  and  popular  preachers,  and  filled  anew 
the  deserted  churches.  They  supplanted  other  priests  in  the 
care  of  consciences,  and  their  schools  were  filled  with  the 
children  of  all  classes;  for  they  taught  not  only  gratui- 
tously but  well. 

"  With  what  vehemence,"  says  Macaulay,  "  with  what  pohcy, 
with  what  exact  disciphne,  with  what  dauntless  courage,  with 
what  self-denial,  with  what  forgetfulness  of  the  dearest  private 
ties,  with  what  intense  and  stubborn  devotion  to  a  single  end, 
with  what  unscrupulous  laxity  and  versatility  in  the  choice  of 
means,  the  Jesuits  fought  the  battles  of  their  Church,  is  written 
in  every  page  of  the  annals  of  Europe  during  several  genera- 
tions. The  history  of  the  Order  of  Jesus  is  the  history  of  the 
great  Catholic  reaction  against  Protestantism  in  the  seven- 
teenth century." 

The  Jesuits  encountered  great  opposition  and  fierce 
abuse  not  from  Protestants  only  but  still  more  from  the 
other  Catholic  Orders  which  they  supplanted.  They  were 
accused  of  all  manner  of  false  beliefs  and  wicked  actions. 
Some  of  these  charges  were  well  founded,  but  others  were 
merely  due  to  the  jealousy  of  their  rivals. 

The  Jesuits  engaged  with  great  energy  in  the  cause 
of  missions.  In  the  East  Indies,  Francis  Xavier  led  the 
way  in  1542,  and  it  is  said  that  he  baptized  hundreds  of 
thousands.     He  preached  in  Goa,  Cochin-China,  Malacca, 


LUTIIEU   AND   LOYOLA.  2G7 

Ceylon,  and  Japan,  and  diod   in   l~>r>i  Jxjforc   he   reached 
China. 

lUit  the  chief  trinniphs  of  the  society  were  in  South 
America,  and  here  Lliey  did  real  good  to  the  Indians,  rescu- 
ing them  from  a  system  of  slavery  under  the  Spaniards 
and  Portuguese,  and  uniting  them  in  a  civilized  com- 
munity. Tliis  especially  took  place  in  Paraguay,  an  exten- 
sive region  of  country  lying  between  the  Parana  and 
Paraguay  rivers.  Here  they  formed  their  Indian  converts 
into  communities,  —  giving,  however,  to  each  family  a 
piece  of  ground  where  they  could  plant  their  corn,  pota- 
toes, and  cotton ;  having  also  laud  in  which  the  people 
worked  for  the  community,  the  produce  of  which  com- 
mon land  was  kept  for  the  old,  the  sick,  and  the  in- 
Hrm.  The  Indians  were  allowed  to  choose  their  pul)lic 
officers  themselves,  the  Jesuit  Rector  having  a  veto.  The 
Indians  had  religious  fraternities,  health-officers,  autl  gar- 
dens of  medicinal  herbs.  In  these  communities  was  dis- 
covered tlie  use  of  Peruvian  Bark,  Ions:  called  Jesuit's 
Bark,  from  winch  quinine  is  made.  There  were  about 
three  thousand  persons  in  each  community.  The  houses 
were  built  on  three  sides  of  a  S(|uare,  with  the  cliurch  and 
public  buildings  on  the  fourth  siile.  In  each  corner  of 
the  square  was  a  cross,  and  in  the  middle  a  statue  of  the 
Virgin.  The  Indians  married  young;  they  had  no  care  ; 
they  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  obey.  The  discipline  of  the 
Jesuits  was  conqdete,  but  not  capricious  or  tyrannical. 
The  cldl  hen  were  taught  to  read,  write,  and  sing.  This 
race  of  Guarini  Indians  was  naturally  docile,  and  also 
naturally  musical.  "They  sing,"  said  the  Jesuits,  "  as  the 
birds  do,  by  nature."  They  went  out  to  work  every  day  to 
the  sound  of  flutes,  bearing  in  procession  the  image  of  St. 
Isidore,  patron  of  agricultui-e.  There  was  a  time  assigned 
for  the  children's  plays;  tlu^y  had  dances  and  feasts  and 


268         EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN   RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

dramatic  entertainments.  Like  most  other  communities 
under  a  religious  law,  the  people  were  peaceful,  happy, 
and  comfortable ;  but  like  other  such  communities  they 
remained  always  children,  never  developing  manly  quali- 
ties. When  evil  days  came,  and  these  communities  were 
assailed  by  their  enemies,  there  was  found  among  them 
no  courage,  nor  any  power  to  defend  themselves ;  so  they 
were  overthrown  and  scattered. 

In  1605  Robert  de  Nobili  went  to  India  as  a  missionary 
and  arrived  at  Goa,  where  Xavier  had  landed  sixty-three 
years  before.  Xavier,  one  of  the  greatest  and  best  of 
men,  had,  with  untiring  zeal,  gone  through  India  and 
Japan,  and  in  ten  years  had  baptized  thousands  of  con- 
verts ;  but  they  had  been  baptized  rather  than  converted, 
and  the  results  of  his  labors  had  almost  disappeared. 
Eeflecting  on  the  cause,  De  Nobili  determined  to  disguise 
himself  as  a  Brahman  and  so  to  get  access  to  the  upper 
class.  He  carefully  learned  the  language  and  adopted  the 
dress  of  a  Brahman  hermit,  or  anchorite.  The  Brahmans 
came  to  see  liim,  but  did  not  detect  the  imposition.  He 
pretended  to  be  inspired  to  tell  them  the  true  way,  and 
seventy-two  Brahmans  were  baptized  by  him.  When  liis 
course  was  known  at  Eome,  there  arose  a  great  debate  as 
to  whether  it  was  rioht  to  turn  Brahman  in  order  to  make 
Christians.  Opinions  varied.  At  last  tlie  Pope  gave  his  per- 
mission to  the  Jesuit  missionaries  to  wear  the  Brahmanical 
cord,  provided  it  was  only  meant  as  a  sign  of  noble  birth ; 
to  burn  sandal-wood,  ])rovided  it  was  merely  as  a  perfume; 
and  to  perform  the  Brahmanical  ablutions,  provided  it  was 
for  purposes  of  cleanliness.  The  Pope  also  ordered  them 
to  preach  to  the  lower  classes ;  but  this  tliey  had  deter- 
mined not  to  do.  If  they  preached  to  the  Pariahs  it  was 
secretly,  and  in  the  night-time.  These  Christian  Brahmans 
preserved  all  their  old  ceremonies;  called  on  their  old  gods, 


LUTHER   AND   LOYOLA.  2G9 

Shiva  and  Krishna  and  Kiidia  ;  but  every  missionary  bap- 
tized at  least  one  tliousand  i)ersons  every  year.  It  was  often 
done  in  this  way.  The  Jesuits  professed  to  he  pliysicians, 
and  whenever  they  were  called  in  to  a  flying  })erson  would  se- 
cretly baptize  him,  under  the  pretence  of  giving  him  medical 
aid.  At  last  the  Po])e  insisted  that  the  converts  should 
abandon  their  heathen  rites,  and  that  the  missionaries 
sliouhl  preach  the  plain  doctrines  of  the  Church.  The 
result  was  that  these  Hindoo  Christians  generally  aposta- 
tized, and  went  back  to  Brahmanism.  It  soon  a]»i)eared 
that  Jesuit  Christianity  in  India  had  no  root  to  it.  The 
Abbd  Dubois,  himself  a  Catholic,  gives  an  instance  of  this 
in  later  times.  He  says  that  when  Tippoo  Sahib  wished 
to  convert  the  inhabitants  of  Mysore  to  Mohammedanism 
he  began  with  the  Christians,  and  gave  secret  ordeis  to 
have  them  all  seized  and  brought  to  Seringapntam.  The 
number  amounted  to  sixty  thousand.  They  all  aj^ostatized  ; 
not  one  was  willing  to  be  a  martyr. 

The  decline  in  the  fortunes  of  the  Jesuits  was  as  rapid  as 
their  rise.  In  1759  tliey  were  expelled  from  Portugal  and 
from  its  vast  colonies  in  South  America.  In  France  they 
were  suppressed  in  1764,  their  General  liicci  having  re- 
fused to  modify  their  constitutions,  saying:  Si7it  lit  sunt 
aut  non  sint,  —  "  Let  them  be  as  they  are  oi'  not  be  at  all." 
They  were  suppressed  in  Spain  in  17G7,  and  the  society 
was  dissolved  by  a  bull  of  Clement  XIV.  in  1773.  The 
charges  against  them  w^ere  of  interfering  with  the  govern- 
ment of  nations,  prompting  to  the  assassination  of  rulers, 
teaching  false  morality,  general  duplicity,  and  organized 
deceit.  The  Order  was  afterward  revived,  and  at  the 
present  time  may  l^e  said  to  control  the  policy  of  the 
Iioman  Catholic  Church ;  but  the  hostility  against  it  has 
not  diminished. 

The  Jesuits  have  been   expelled  from  Russia  (1817), 


270         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

banished  from  Switzerland,  suppressed  in  Italy,  and  ex- 
cluded from  Germany  and  France.  Tiie  worst  blow,  per- 
haps, which  the  Order  ever  received  was  inflicted  by  the 
"Lettres  Provinciales "  of  Blaise  Pascal.  This  brilliant 
adversary  succeeded  in  making  a  theological  discussion 
more  entertaining  than  a  novel  or  drama.  He  exposed  in 
such  an  amusing  way  the  deceit  and  subterfuges  of  the 
Jesuits,  he  so  mercilessly  chastised  the  immorality  taught 
in  their  schools  and  adopted  by  their  confessors,  that  the 
effect  of  his  book  was  irresistible,  and  its  arguments  were 
unanswerable. 

"What  is  a  man  profited  if  he  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  his  own  soul  ?"  What  is  a  Church  profited  if  it 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  its  own  soul  ?  The  Jesuits 
seemed  about  to  gain  the  whole  world  by  their  adroitness, 
their  suppleness,  their  energy,  their  compact  and  united 
action,  their  untiring  perseverance,  their  sacrifice  of  all 
personal  interests  to  those  of  their  Order ;  but  there  was 
always  this  fatal  weakness  in  the  system.  It  was  the 
Order  first,  and  Truth  second,  —  the  Order  first,  and  Chris- 
tianity afterward.  It  was  being  willing  to  do  evil  that 
good  might  come,  and  so  its  condemnation  was  just. 

Its  Day  of  Judgment  came.  In  every  land  where  the 
company  had  prospered  the  most,  —  heaped  up  wealth, 
guided  the  policy  of  empires,  controlled  the  ear  of  kings, 
moulded  with  plastic  liand  the  minds  of  tlie  young  and 
the  conscience  of  the  devout,  learned  the  secrets  of  house- 
holds and  the  mysteries  of  cabinets,  —  in  every  such  land, 
sooner  or  later,  came  its  day  of  judgment.  Tlie  princes 
found  they  had  been  deceived  ;  the  people  bad  learned  to 
hate  the  Jesuits  as  the  allies  of  tyrants ;  the  religious 
were  shocked  by  their  worldliness  ;  the  common  human 
conscience  was  revolted  by  their  avarice,  their  ambition, 
and  their  want  of  principle. 


LUTIIEU   AND   LOVOL.V.  271 

No  success  is  lasliii<;-  whicli  dues  iioL  rest  on  the  fbuiidii- 
tion  of  justice  and  truth.  This  is  the  perpetual  lesson  of 
impartial  history.  Everything  has  its  appropriate  reward. 
The  zeal,  activity,  and  sagacity  of  the  Jesuits  were  re- 
warded by  a  long  series  of  triumphs  ;  but  their  fjilsehood 
was  also  rewarded  by  ultimate  overthrow.  They  did  great 
things  for  the  world.  They  taught  the  arts  of  civilization 
to  savages  and  then  ruled  tlieni  with  a  rod  of  iron.  They 
introduced  the  ways  of  Europe  into  China  and  Japan, 
and  then  took  their  reward  in  every  i)rize  of  office  and 
emolument  which  they  could  obtain.  The  people  at  last 
said  :  "  We  owe  you  no  gi'atitude,  for  you  are  careful  to 
pay  yourselves  for  all  you  do  for  us.  If  you  save  us  from 
our  native  tyrants,  it  is  that  you  may  tyrannize  over  us 
yourselves."  Their  course,  in  this  respect,  reminds  one  of 
a  Greek  epigram,  printed  some  years  since  in  an  English 
magazine,  in  the  following  excellent  translation ;  — 

"  Honey  and  milk  we  sacrifice  to  thee, 
Kind  Hermes,  inexpensive  Deity  ! 
But  Hercules  demands  a  sheep  each  day 
For  keeping,  so  he  says,  the  wolves  away. 
Imports  it  much,  meek  browsers  of  the  sod, 
Whether  the  beast  devour  you,  or  the  god  1 " 

§  8.  IVork  of  Luther  aiid  Loyola  compared.  Results  of 
both.  —  When  Luther  died,  in  1546,  nearly  half  of  Europe 
had  broken  away  from  the  Church  of  Eome,  and  the  rest 
seemed  about  to  follow.  All  the  nations  of  Teutonic 
blood  were  Protestants.  England,  Scotland,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Prussia,  Saxony,  Hesse,  Wurtemberg,  a  part  of  the 
Netherlands,  had  left  Pome  not  to  return.  France,  Italy, 
and  Spain  were  so  permeated  with  the  same  spirit  that  they 
were  half  Protestant.  Then  came  the  counter  revolution 
of  whicli  Loyola  was  tlie  great  captain  ;  the  advancing  tide 
was  checked  and  the  wave  of  victory  stayed. 


272  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Luther  and  Loyola  represent  two  types  of  men  opposite 
in  all  their  tendencies  of  thought.  Both  were  deeply 
religious ;  but  one  believed  in  the  religion  of  freedom, 
the  other  in  that  of  order  and  law.  The  one  looked  for- 
ward, the  other  back.  It  was  the  eternal,  never  ending 
war  between  the  reformer  and  the  conservative  ;  the  man 
who  hopes  from  change,  and  the  man  who  fears  it. 

The  work  of  Luther  was  certainly  followed  by  gratifying 
results  even  for  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  Protestant 
Reformation  was  also  a  Catholic  Reformation.  The  for- 
midable and  growing  opposition  from  without  compelled 
the  Roman  Church,  in  order  to  save  its  life,  to  reform 
itself  from  within.  In  times  of  prosperity  the  self-seekers 
rule,  but  in  adversity  honest  men  are  called  to  the  front. 
So,  after  the  Protestant  Reformation  had  become  a  mighty 
power,  there  were  no  more  popes  like  the  Borgias  and  the 
Medici,  but  pure  men  leading  austere  lives.  The  abuses 
in  the  convents  also  ceased.  Holy  persons,  whose  good- 
ness no  one  could  question,  shed  lustre  on  the  Catholic 
communit}^  —  men  like  St.  Francis  de  Sales  (1G22),  St. 
Teresa  (1582),  St.  Charles  Borromeo  (1584),  St.  Filip- 
po  Neri  (1548).  Indulgences  are  no  longer  exposed  for 
sale ;  there  are  no  more  interdicts,  nor  auto-da-fes,  nor 
Bartholomew  massacres.  The  old  Orders  were  reformed, 
or  new  Orders  formed,  for  charity,  for  teaching  and  de- 
votion. Such  are  the  Oratory  of  Jesus,  the  Ursulines, 
the  Visitants,  and  the  Mission  of  Vincent  de  Paul  The 
scandals  which  existed  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
down  to  the  time  of  Luther  have  ceased  since  that  period. 
Have  we  not  a  right  then  to  say  that  the  Protestant 
Reformation  was  also  a  Catholic  Reformation  ? 

Martin  Luther  and  Ignatius  Loyola  are  the  illustrations 
of  two  antagonistic  principles.  In  Luther  we  see  the  power 
of  conviction,  in  Loyola  of  organization.     The  weapon  of 


LUTHER   AND   LOYOLA.  273 

one  is  Truth  ;  that  of  tlie  otlier,  Policy.  The  one  works  by 
entlmsiasm,  the  other  by  skill.  The  Protestant  enthusiasm 
rises  and  recedes  like  a  great  tide  ;  the  Jesuit  oiganization 
marches  steadily  onwai'd,  .step  by  step.  It  is  a  perfect 
machine;  it  works  noiselessly  but  regularly,  like  the  great 
engine  in  an  ocean  steamer,  driving  the  vessel  on  and  on 
without  pause  or  check  day  after  day ;  but  there  is  a 
fatal  flaw  in  the  boiler ;  so,  at  last,  there  comes  an  ex- 
plosion, and  the  whole  machine  breaks  in  pieces.  Three 
centuries  and  a  half  have  passed  since  the  mighty  strug- 
gle began  between  Luther  and  Loyola,  and  how  stands 
the  battle  now  ?  What  are  the  final  results,  the  definite 
gains  on  either  side  ?  The  Protestant  cause,  the  Protes- 
tant idea,  grows  ever  stronger.  Which  were  the  great  na- 
tions of  the  world  when  the  Reformation  began  ?  Spain, 
Italy,  Austria,  France,  —  all  of  them  Catholic  powers. 
Which  are  the  leadin<'  nations  now  ?  Prussia,  France, 
England,  Eussia,  the  United  States,  —  none  of  them 
Eoman  Catholic  except  France.  But  there  is  more  than 
that.  All  Europe  to-day  is  pervaded  by  free  thought. 
Free  thought,  born  of  the  Refoi-ination,  rules  in  every 
land.  As  the  Jesuit  in  India  turned  Biahman,  so  the 
Jesuit  in  America  is  obliged  to  turn  Pationalist  and  to 
declare  that  Home  is  on  the  side  of  reason.  It  is  im- 
possible now,  in  any  country,  even  in  Rome  itself,  to  fet- 
ter free  thought.  Free  thought  to-day  triumphs  in  all 
lands  ;  and  this  is  the  success  of  Luther  and  the  defeat  of 
Loyola. 

If,  which  is  not  possible,  the  whole  world  should  become 
Roman  Catholic  again  from  conviction  and  by  the  force 
of  argument,  —  even  this  would  be  the  triumph  of  Luther 
and  not  of  Loyola ;  for  Luther  stands  for  conviction,  and  he 
said  always,  "  Convince  me,  and  I  will  accept  all  the  doc- 
trines of  Rome."     In  si)ite  of  all  sophistry  and  subtlety 

18 


274         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

Luther  will  be  regarded  through  all  time  as  the  cham- 
pion of  human  liberty,  and  Loyola  as  that  of  human 
slavery.  Whenever  mankind  shall  prefer  slavery  to  free- 
dom, Loyola  and  his  cause  may  triumph,  but  certainly  not 
before. 


THE   MYSTICS   IN    ALL   UELlGlU^^S.  275 


IX. 

THE   iMYSTICS   IN   ALL  EELIGIONS. 

§  1.  Wide  sj)read  of  Mysticism.  Its  definition.  Mysti- 
cism in  Iiulia  and  Persia.  —  The  frequent  reappearance 
of  the  same  phenomenon  among  different  races  of  men, 
widely  separated  in  space  and  time  from  each  other,  and 
where  there  has  been  no  intercourse  or  intercommunica- 
tion, indicates  the  existence  of  some  tendency  of  human 
nature,  the  law  of  which  it  is  well  to  study.  Such  a  phe- 
nomenon is  mysticism.  It  has  reappeared  in  all  ages  and 
among  nearly  all  the  religions  of  the  world.  It  is  found 
in  China,  India,  Persia,  as  well  as  in  Europe.  It  has 
appeared  among  the  Buddhists  and  Brahmans,  among  the 
IMohammedans  and  Greeks,  among  the  Jews  and  the 
Christians.  It  is  formulated  witli  much  precision  in  the 
Bhagavat-geeta,  the  Sankhya-Karika,  and  the  Laws  of 
Manu,  —  three  very  ancient  Hindoo  works.  It  came  up 
among  the  New  Platonists  and  was  tlie  basis  of  tlieir  sys- 
tem in  tlie  third  century.  It  was  found  among  the  Jews, 
in  the  writings  of  Philo  and  in  the  Cal)ala.  Germany 
and  France  saw  it  bloom  into  a  multitude  of  marvellous 
flowers  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Hard  Mohammedanism  grew 
tender  in  Persia  among  the  Ssufis.  Tslani  answered  Europe, 
liabia  and  Deschela-deddin  uttering  the  same  language  as 
Tauler  and  Jacob  Boehme.  From  Northern  Europe  comes 
the   solemn   voice   of  Swedenborg.     In    France,  Fenelon 


276  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS    IN    RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

and  Madame  Guion  prolong  the  mystic  strain.  Even 
matter-of-fact  England  gives  us  Henry  More,  George  Her- 
bert, and  William  Law ;  while  America,  where  all  things 
seem  to  find  a  home,  reproduces  the  same  notes  from  tlie 
lips  of  Emerson,  General  Hitchcock,  and  Jones  Very. 
Such  a  far-reaching  unison  of  voices  deserves  examination, 
that  we  may  see  what  grains  of  gold  can  perchance  be 
found  in  this  curious  heap  of  ore. 

First,  we  must  ask,  what  is  mysticism  ? 

Mysticism  may  be  called  the  belief  that  man  can  come 
into  union  with  the  Infinite  Being  by  means  of  a  wholly 
passive  self-surrender  to  divine  influence.  The  organ  in 
man  by  which  he  thus  communes  with  God  is  not  will 
nor  reason ;  it  is  not  moral  nor  intellectual,  but  a  hidden 
faculty  of  the  soul  behind  them  all.  In  the  ecstatic  mo- 
ment of  this  union,  time,  space,  body,  soul,  personal  exist- 
ence, all  disapjjear,  and  man  becomes  absorbed  into  the 
Divine  Being.  It  is  a  state  of  the  soul  which  transcends 
every  act  of  reason  or  of  faith,  in  which  everything  but 
God  loses  reality.  He  who  has  been  in  this  state  retains 
much  of  its  influence  afterward.  He  sees  tlirough  the 
shows  of  things  to  their  centre,  becomes  independent  of 
time  and  space,  master  of  his  body  and  mind,  ruler  of 
nature  by  the  sight  of  her  inmost  laws,  and  elevated  above 
all  partial  religions  into  the  Universal  Religion.  This  is 
the  essence  of  mysticism.  It  has  in  practice  assumed 
three  forms  :  — 

1.  Religious  mysticism,  where  the  object  sought  was 
spiritual  communion  with  God.  In  this  form  it  is  found 
among  the  Brahmans  of  India,  the  Ssufis  of  Persia,  the 
Saints  of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  Madame  Guion  and  Eenelon, 
Boehme  and  Novalis. 

2.  Philosophical  mysticism,  where  the  object  was  to 
attain  a  knowledge  of  the  essence  of  things  by  this  mys- 


THE    iMVSTlCS   IN   ALL   RFXIGIONS.  277 

turious  organ,  more  powerful  than  reason.  In  this  form  it 
appears  in  the  Sankhya-Karika,  the  New  Platonists,  the 
Kabhalists,  Erigena ;  and,  in  modern  times,  in  Schelling 
and  Schleiermaelier. 

3.  Thaiunaturgic  mysticism,  or  that  wliicli  claimed  power 
over  nature,  —  a  belief  which  developed  into  alchemy  and 
astrology.  This  is  found  in  the  writings  of  Apollonius  of 
Tyaua,  of  Paracelsus,  and  Agri[)pa,  and  is  the  method  of 
working  wonders  by  means  of  a  theosophic  disci^dine. 

Beginning  with  Asia,  the  most  absolute  Pantheistic  mys- 
ticism tlie  world  has  seen  is  that  of  Bralimanism.  The 
most  ancient  philosopliy  of  this  religion,  the  Vedanta, 
teaches  that  there  is  only  one  Being  in  the  Universe,  God, 
and  that  all  else  is  Maya,  or  illusion.  The  true  object 
of  life  is  to  escape  from  this  illusive  existence  by  being 
reabsorbed  into  Brahm. 

Brahni  is  the  Creator  and  the  Created.  That  which  no 
man  can  utter,  yet  which  expresses  all  things,  is  Brahm. 
To  express  it  we  can  only  say,  —  "  It  is." 

Sankhara,  the  great  Vedanta  philosopher,  says  :  "  I  am 
i>rahm;  I  am  eternal,  pure,  free,  one,  constant.  Whoever 
annihilates  all  his  desires,  and  ceases  from  himself,  then 
becomes  one  with  the  Universal  Spirit.  The  knower  of 
God  becomes  God."  The  Bhagavat-geeta,  tlie  Bible  of  this 
system,  teaches  tiiat  the  universe  is  all  illusion,  —  real  as 
illusion,  unreal  as  l)eing ;  not  true,  since  it  has  no  essence ; 
not  false,  because  its  existence,  as  illusion,  is  from  God. 

Passing  from  India  to  Persia  we  do  not  find  mucli  of  the 
mystic  element  in  Zoroaster,  but  it  has  reappeared  in  the 
Persian  ]\Iohammedans  called  Ssufis.  Like  all  other  mys- 
tics they  teach  that  God  is  everything,  man  nothing ;  and 
that  by  entire  escape  from  self-will  man  can  Ixjcome  one 
with  God.  Bustami  thought  it  a  sin  to  believe  in  our 
personal  identity.     He  said  tliat  when  man  adores  God, 


278  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

God  adores  himself.  He  declared  himself  so  absorbed  into 
Deity  as  to  be  himself  the  divine  power  and  wisdom.  He 
said :  "  I  am  the  sea  without  bottom.  I  am  the  throne  of 
God.  I  am  Gabriel,  Michael,  and  all  the  angels.  I  am 
Abraham,  Moses,  and  Christ." 

Other  Moslem  saints  were  less  extreme.  Eabia's  doc- 
trine is  certainly  not  extravagant. 

Here  is  a  translation  of  a  well  known  legend  concern- 
ing this  St.  Catherine  of  Persia. 

Rabia,  sick  upon  her  bed, 
By  two  saints  was  visited. 

Holy  Malik,  Hassan  wise. 
Men  of  mark  in  Moslem  eyes. 

Hassan  said  :  "  Whose  prayer  is  pure 
Will  God's  chastisement  endure" 

Malik,  from  a  deeper  sense 
Uttered  his  experience  :  — 

"  He  who  loves  his  Master's  choice 
Will  in  chastisement  rejoice" 

Rabia  saw  some  selfish  will 

In  their  maxims  lingering  still,  — 

And  replied  :  "  O  men  of  grace ! 
He  who  sees  his  Master's  face 

Will  not,  in  his  prayer,  recall 
That  he  is  chastised  at  all." 

§  2.  The,  New  Platonists.  The  Seholastic  Mystics.  The 
German  Mystics  in  the  Fourteenth  Century.  Jacob  Boehme. 
—  On  our  way  to  Europe  we  will  stop  in  ancient  Alexan- 
dria.    There,  in  the   third  century,  is  Plotinus,  the   mpt 


THE   MYSTICS   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.  279 

student  of  Plato,  who  sought  to  live  "  the  angelic  life  "  by 
macerating  the  l)ocly  and  immersing  himself  in  contem- 
plation. One  day  he  hears  a  teacher  in  the  museum, 
Ammonius  Saccas.  This  man,  who  liiid  heen  a  street- 
jtorter,  denounced  all  existing  philosophies  as  partial,  and 
calk'd  on  his  hearers  to  seek  one  which  would  include  all 
l»liilosophy  and  all  religion  in  one  vast  spiritual  system, 
riotinus  was  charmed,  and  entered  on  this  new  way. 

"  Let  us  make,"  said  he,  "  of  Platoniism  a  religion  deeper 
than  Christianity  and  as  pure,  wiser  than  Oriental  religions, 
more  vital  than  the  speculations  of  the  Gnostics.  But  so  vast 
a  growth  must  have  a  deep  root.  It  cannot  rest  on  any  mere 
speculation  or  argument,  but  on  insight.  There  must  be  an 
inward  vision  of  truth,  which  shall  be  the  root  of  all  knowl- 
edge.    Tills  ecstatic  vision  is  what  we  need." 

"We  cannot  know  the  Infinite,"  he  writes  to  a  friend,  "  l)y 
our  reason,  but  by  some  faculty  superior  to  reason,  by  which  you 
cease  to  be  your  finite  self  and  enter  into  the  Divine  Essence! 
Tl)is  is  ecstasy.  But  we  can  only  now  and  then  attain  this  ele- 
vation. I  have  only  realized  it  three  times,  and  Porphyry  as 
yet  not  once  ;  but  all  that  purifies  the  soul  prepares  for  it." 

Porphyry  and  Proclus  follow  Plotinus,  teaching  the  same 
doctrine;  and,  curiously  enough,  in  Italy,  during  the  Penais- 
sance,  it  was  not  chiefly  Plato  who  was  studied,  but  these 
New  Platonists,  these  mystics  of  Alexandria,  by  whose  writ- 
ings the  seeds  of  mysticism  were  again  planted  in  Europe. 

But  mysticism  had  entered  the  Christian  Church  before 
by  another  road,  —  through  the  books  ascribed  to  Diony- 
sius  the  Areopagite.  These  writings  became  the  manuals 
during  many  centuries  of  European  mysticism.  They 
taught  that  all  things  proceed  from  CJod  and  return 
to  him  again  in  an  endless  circle,  by  a  law  of  evolution. 
Nothing  exists  but  by  God,  yet  he  is  above  all  existence; 
and  this  l)ivine  Liie  is  mediated  l)y  a  Celestial  Hierarchy 


280         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 


through  which  all  illumination  descends,  to  reascend 
again.  Everything  is  good.  Evil  is  unreal  and  does  not 
exist.  But  our  highest  knowledge  of  God  conies  to  us 
through  a  negative  path, —  by  acknowledging  our  ignorance. 
Omni-nescience  then  becomes  the  same  as  Omniscience. 

St.  Bernard  also  was  a  mystic,  putting  passive  faith 
above  all  knowledge.  His  quarrel  with  Abelard  was  be- 
cause Abelard  wislied  to  explain  everything.  It  was  not 
that  Abelard  was  a  heretic,  denying  any  part  of  the  creed, 
but  that  he  took  from  it  the  veil  of  mystery. 

There  were  also  mystics  among  tlie  Scholastic  Doctors. 
Hugo  Victor  was  one  of  the  chief  in  the  twelfth  century. 
He,  too,  taught,  that  we  cannot  know  truth  or  come  to 
God  by  our  reason,  but  must  meet  him  by  mystical 
insight. 

In  Germany,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  mysticism  ap- 
peared in  Master  Eckhart  at  Cologne.  He  said  such  things 
as  these :  — 

"  To  every  man  who  utterly  abandons  self,  God  must 
necessarily  communicate  himself.  When  I  do  this  I  am  one 
with  Him.     He  cannot  then  exclude  me." 

"  God,  in  himself  alone,  is  not  God.  Only  in  the  creature 
hath  he  become  God.  The  eye  by  which  I  see  God  is  the 
same  as  that  by  which  he  sees  me." 

Eckhart  tells  this  story  :  — 

"  There  was  once  a  learned  man  who  prayed  that  God  would 
send  some  one  to  teach  him  the  truth ;  and  there  came  one 
day  a  voice  saying  to  him,  '  Go  to  the  front  of  the  church,  and 
thou  wilt  find  one  to  show  the  right  way.'  So  he  went  and 
found  a  wretched  beggar,  and  the  learned  man  said  to  him, 
'  Good  day  ! '  And  he  answered  '  I  never  had  a  bad  day.' 
Then  he  said,  '  God  bless  thee  ;  *  and  the  beggar  answered,  '  I 
am  already  blessed.'  '  Heaven  save  thee,'  said  the  scholar. 
*  I    am   already   saved,'  said   he.     '  How   is  this  1 '  asked  the 


THE  MYSTICS   IN   ALL  RELIGIONS.  281 

scholar  ;  *  Explain  it  to  me  ! '  '  Willingly,'  said  the  beggar  ; 
'All  God's  days  are  good,  so  I  always  have  a  good  day  ;  I  am 
always  blessed,  for  God's  will  is  my  will  ;  I  am  safe,  for  I  be- 
long to  Him,  and  he  does  not  wish  to  lose  any  of  his  creatures.' 

*  But  how  if  God  should  send  thee  to  hell  1 '  asked  the  scholar. 

*  He  cannot,'  said  the  beggar ;  *  his  love  restrains  him  ;  but  if 
he  did,  I  have  still  two  arms  with  which  to  hold  iiim  ;  one  is 
submission,  and  the  other  is  love  ;  and  so  if  I  went  to  hell  I 
should  take  God  with  me  ;  and  I  had  rather  be  in  hell  and  have 
God,  than  be  in  heaven  and  not  have  him.' " 

There  were  many  other  mystics  in  the  Christian  Church 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  —  such  as  Tauler,  Suso,  Nicholas 
of  Basel,  Brigitta,  Catherine  of  Sienna,  and,  perhaps  we 
may  add,  the  author  of  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ." 

At  the  time  of  the  Eei'ormation  a  new  crop  of  mys- 
tics arose,  the  chief  of  whom  was  Jacob  Boehme,  the 
shoemaker.  He  was  born  in  1575.  Like  Georoje  Fox 
afterward,  he  was  repelled  by  the  coldness  and  hardness  of 
the  Church  teachers.  His  soul  was  oppressed  by  a  sense 
of  the  evils  of  the  world.  At  last  he  received  his  first 
illumination.  He  fell  into  a  trance  and  was  surrounded 
by  an  atmosphere  of  glory.  He  seemed  to  behold  all  the 
secrets  of  nature.  His  heart  was  full  of  peace.  "  I  now 
saw,"  said  he,  "the  abyss;  the  three  world.s,  —  that  of 
paradise  and  the  angels,  that  of  darkness,  and  this  visible 
world,  —  the  result  of  the  two  others.  I  saw  the  nature 
of  good  and  evil.  Then  I  set  myself  to  write  this  down  ; " 
and  so  he  \vrote  "  The  Aurora."  "  In  man,"  said  he,  "  are 
three  gates  opening  into  the  three  worlds.  Man  is  able  to 
intereect  all  three." 

This  book,  translated  by  William  Law,  is  a  curious  mix- 
ture of  chemistry  and  theology,  a  compound  of  Paracelsus 
and  Plotinus ;  Imt  the  ideas  in  the  book  are  so  profound 
that  all  historians   of   philosophy   think   it  necessary  to 


282  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

devote  some  space  to  his  theory.  By  mystic  contemplation 
man  can  behold  God  in  himself  as  the  "  groundless  Being," 
the  "silent  nothing";  and  he  can  also  observe  the  forth- 
coming of  creation  from  God.  "  All  things  consist,"  says 
he,  "  in  Yes  and  No.  The  Yes  is  pure  life,  and  is  God 
himself.  The  No  is  the  reply  to  the  Yes,  and  is  the  for- 
mula of  creation.  Thus  the  silent  nothing  becomes  some- 
thing by  passing  into  duality."  Spinoza,  Schelling,  and 
Hegel  all  partake  of  the  ideas  of  Boehme.  William  Law, 
author  of  "  Law's  Serious  Call,"  has  been  his  chief  disciple 
and  interpreter  in  England,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the 
chief  of  English  mystics. 

§  3.  Fenclon  and  Madame  Guion.  The  Tliaumatiir gists. 
Swedenhorg.  —  Another  form  of  mysticism  was  the  quiet- 
ism of  Madame  Guion  and  of  Fenelon,  which  consisted  in 
believing  in  the  possibility  of  a  state  in  which  all  desires 
and  wishes  should  be  submitted  to  the  will  of  God,  and 
in  which  one  should  love  God  for  himself  alone.  They 
had  the  same  formula  that  afterward  was  used  by  the 
Hopkinsians  in  New  England,  that  one  was  not  fit  to  be 
saved  till  he  was  willing  to  be  damned  for  the  glory  of 
God.  Madame  Guion  and  Fenelon  taught  this  doctrine 
of  disinterested  love,  the  same  which  the  saints  of  all 
ages  have  proclaimed.  It  was  the  same  that  a  woman  in 
Alexandria  taught  in  the  early  centuries  when  she  walked 
through  the  streets,  carrying  a  torch  in  one  hand  and  a 
pitcher  of  water  in  the  other,  saying :  "  With  this  torch  I 
will  burn  the  heavens,  and  with  this  water  quench  the 
fires  of  hell,  that  men  may  love  God  for  himself  alone." 
Louis  XIV.  and  Bossuet  persecuted  Fenelon  and  Aladame 
Guion  as  heretics.  They  were  the  purest  and  holiest  of  hu- 
man beinos ;  but  the  world  and  the  Church  have  too  often 
made  martyrs  of  such,  not  perceiving  that  they  were  saints. 
Another  class  of  mystics  who  came  up  at  this  time  was 


THE   MYSTICS   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.  283 

the  Thauraatiirgists,  who  iinagiiieJ  that  by  ascetic  disci- 
pline, purihcatiou  of  the  senses,  and  inward  ilhiniination, 
they  might  attain  such  a  knowledge  of  the  secrets  of 
nature  as  to  work  wonders.  Solomon  was  believed  in  the 
East,  and  still  is,  to  have  possessed  tliis  natural  magic,  and 
be  able  to  command  anufels  and  demons  to  serve  him. 
This  belief  was  perhaps  an  obscure  prophecy  of  the  miracles 
wrought  by  modern  science,  the  greatest  of  all  magicians ; 
nor  were  the  efforts  of  these  Thaumaturgists  wholly  use- 
less. The  alchemists  prepared  the  way  for  tlie  chemists, 
and  astrology  gathered  facts  to  be  used  by  astronomy. 
These  mystics  were  right  in  thinking  that  knowledge  w^as 
power.  Though  they  mistook  the  path,  they  aimed  at  the 
truth. 

The  faith  of  the  Theurgists  was  like  the  auroral  light 
which  precedes  sunrise.  Cornelius  Agrippa  and  Para- 
celsus believed  in  an  occult  science  which  would  master 
nature.  They  held  that  all  space  was  pervaded  by  hidden 
lives  of  magnetic  sympathy,  a  vast  network  binding  all 
things  together.  All  nature  was  full  of  desire,  a  longing 
to  ascend,  —  the  lower  ever  seeking  the  higher  worlds. 
Every  planet  shed  healing  or  baneful  influence ;  all  sweet 
sounds  were  set  to  the  music  of  tlie  splieres.  Nature  was 
full  of  oracles.  A  soul  pervaded  the  universe,  and  man 
was  a  microcosm  allied  to  the  whole  world,  having  sym- 
pathies with  all  nature.  Everything  had  its  mark,  or 
signature,  and  all  the  signs  were  to  be  found  in  the  human 
soul.  Thus  the  universe  vibrated  witli  human  sympathies 
which  our  colder  science  has  dispelled,  perhaps  one  day 
to  return  in  a  higlier  form. 

We  will  now  pass  on  to  consider  the  mysticism  of  Swe- 
denborg.  "  Swedenborg,"  says  one  of  his  biographers, 
"  may  be  compared  to  a  great  country  without  roads,  full 
of  pleasant  and  fruitful  spots,  divided  by  sandy  and  arid 


284         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

tracts,  and  best  reached  by  dropping  from  above  as  from  a 
balloon."  I  shall  adopt  this  method  in  what  I  have  to 
say  of  him,  attempting  no  systematic  examination. 

Was  Swedenborg  a  mystic  ?  He  was  one  in  this  respect, 
that  he  asserted  that  there  is  in  man  an  organ,  which  is 
neither  reason  nor  faith,  by  which  he  can  see  the  spiritual 
world.     He  describes  it  thus :  — 

"  During  a  night  in  1745,  the  world  of  spirits,  Hell  and 
Heaven,  were  convincingly  opened  to  me,  wliere  I  saw  many 
persons  of  my  acquaintance.  Thereafter  the  Lord  daily  opened 
the  eyes  of  my  spirit  to  see  in  perfect  wakefulness  what  was 
o'oinf'  on  in  the  other  world,  and  to  converse,  broad-awake, 
with  angels  and  spirits." 

According  to  Swedenborg  this  spiritual  world,  which  he 
was  chosen  to  see  and  describe,  is  the  root  and  inner  sub- 
stance of  the  outward  world.  All  that  exists  around  us 
comes  from  some  spiritual  thing  corresponding  thereto. 
It  is  the  internal  of  the  physical  world.  Thus  our  sun  in 
the  sky  has  a  spiritual  sun  corresponding  to  it  in  the 
spiritual  sky.  A  possible  explanation  of  his  vision  may 
be  that  this  power  of  looking  into  the  spiritual  world  is  a 
faculty  common  to  all  men,  but  seldom  exercised.  Others 
beside  Swedenborg  have  seen  visions,  sucli  for  instance  as 
those  described  in  the  Bible.  When  Paul  on  his  way  to 
Damascus  saw  Jesus,  it  was  because  Paul's  spiritual  eye 
was  opened.  His  attendants  saw  no  one,  because  their 
inner  sight  was  not  opened.  When  Paul  says  afterward 
that  he  was  caught  up  into  the  Third  Heaven,  he  is  de- 
scribing the  same  fact.  His  inw^ard  eye  w^as  opened  so  as 
to  see  the  Third  Heaven  ;  but  Swedenborg  was  so  made 
that  he  habitually  looked  into  this  spiritual  world  during 
twenty-seven  years.  This  is  his  claim,  and  this  makes 
him  a  mystic. 


THE  MYSTICS   IN   ALL   RELIGIONS.  285 

But  he  was  no  Thaumaturgist  He  claimed  im  magical 
power  or  faculty  of  working  miracles.  The  two  or  three 
marvels  ascrilx^d  to  him  he  makes  no  account  of  liimself. 
Nor  does  he,  like  most  mystics,  despise  this  present  world 
and  retreat  from  it.  He  takes  a  very  matter-of-lact  inter- 
est in  all  things  here,  and  has  very  pronounced  opinions 
on  human  life  and  conduct ;  nor  is  there  much  that  is 
misty  in  his  mysticisuL  On  the  contrary  he  maps  out 
everything  very  distinctly,  and  goes  into  great  detail  in 
describing  the  spiritual  world.  He  explains  everything, 
tells  us  exactly  how  everything  is  done,  and  is  even  some- 
times tedious  in  his  minute  descriptions  of  life  and  man- 
ners in  the  spiritual  world. 

Thus,  describing  tlie  speech  of  the  angels,  he  says :  — 

"  The  language  of  Heaven  is  a  universal  language.  It  is 
not  taught.  Every  one,  at  death,  finds  he  has  it,  and  speaks  it 
instinctively.  Its  sounds  are  those  of  the  affection,  articulated 
by  the  understanding.  .  .  .  The  speech  of  the  celestial  angels 
is  like  a  gentle  stream,  soft  and  continuous ;  that  of  the  spirit- 
ual angels,  rather  vibratory  and  broken.  Celestial  language 
partakes  greatly  of  the  sound  of  the  vowels  U  and  0.  It  con- 
tains no  harsh  consonants. 

"  Spiritual  language  is  distinguished  by  the  free  use  of  the 
vowels  A  and  /.  .  .  .  Angels  can  express  in  a  minute  what 
man  cannot  utter  in  half  an  hour  ;  in  a  single  word,  more  than 
njan  can  say  in  a  thousand." 

Neveitheless,  according  to  Swedenborg,  when  an  angel 
speaks  to  a  man  he  uses  the  same  language,  speaking  to  a 
Frenchman  in  French,  and  the  like.  That  is  because  the 
angel  enters  into  the  man's  memory,  conjoining  himself 
with  his  spiritual  thought. 

Swedenborg  was  so  much  at  home  in  the  spiritual 
world  that  he  often  gave  good  advice  to  those  he  found 
there,  even  to  the  angels.     One  day  he  met  in  the  s[)iriti.al 


286  EVENTS   AND  EPOCHS  IN  EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

world  an  angel  who  was  a  school-master.  He  cried  out : 
"  Who  are  you  ?  Whence  did  you  come  ?  I  saw  you 
just  now,  and  then  I  did  not  see  you."  Swedenborg  re- 
plied with  a  smile  :  "  I  am  no  juggler,  but  I  am  both  a 
foreigner  and  native  in  this  world.  I  belong  to  the  world 
whence  you  come,  and  also  to  this.  Sometimes  I  pass  into 
the  natural  world,  and  then  you  do  not  see  me ;  then  I 
enter  the  spiritual  state,  and  you  see  me.  This  has  been 
granted  me  by  the  Lord.  It  is  known  to  you,  illustrious 
Sir,  that  a  man  of  the  natural  world  does  not  see  one  of 
the  spiritual  world,  and  vice  versa.  Therefore,  when  I  let 
my  spirit  into  my  body  you  did  not  see  me,  but  when  I 
let  it  out  you  did  see  me."  All  which  was,  no  doubt, 
highly  satisfactory  to  the  angel. 

Swedenborg  differs  from  the  mystics  chiefly  in  making 
the  other  world  so  much  like  this.  Most  mystics  regard 
the  other  world  as  containing  what  eye  cannot  see  nor  ear 
hear  nor  the  human  imagination  conceive ;  but  Sweden- 
borg, following  his  doctrine  of  Correspondence,  reproduces 
in  the  spiritual  world  the  most  commonplace  facts  and 
events  of  this. 

Thus  he  tells  us  that  in  writing  the  spiritual  angels  use 
letters  like  our  common  Eoman  types,  but  the  celestial 
angels  use  a  sort  of  Arabic  or  Hebrew  alphabet.  Tlie 
angels  have  books  and  libraries  just  as  men  have,  and 
preach  from  our  Bible. 

He  describes  the  little  girls  who  die  and  go  to  Heaven 
(where  all  children  go)  as  being  put  into  very  much  such  a 
boarding-school  as  we  have  here.,  "  Every  little  girl,"  he 
says,  "  has  her  own  chamber  and  bed,  with  a  closet  near 
by  far  her  clothes  and  knick-knacks."  I  am  sorry  to  hear 
from  this  accurate  witness  that  they  are  constantly  en- 
gaged in  needlework,  embroidering  nosegays  on  white 
linen ;   but  it  appears  that  they  do  not  sell  these  little 


THE   MYSTICS   IN    ALL    LLLIGIONS.  287 

articles  at  fairs,  but  always  give  them  away.  These  chil- 
dren have  coiiiiiiou  clothes  and  dress-clothes,  which  come  to 
them  without  their  knowing  whence.  When  spots  appear 
on  their  clothes,  it  is  a  sign  that  the  children  have  thought 
something  amiss  ;  when  they  repent  of  it,  the  spots  vanish. 
If  one  of  their  garments  disappears,  they  know  they  have 
done  something  wrong  ;  if  a  new  one  comes,  then  tliey  see 
in  it  a  reward  of  merit.  Each  of  them  has  a  Bible  and 
a  hymn-book,  but  if  they  do  not  use  them  the  books 
vanish. 

Tiiere  is  a  good  deal  of  church-going  and  preaching  in 
Heaven.  Although  Swedenborg  frequently  explains  that 
true  worship  is  a  good  life,  still  the  angels  believe  in 
external  worship  also.  Their  temples  hold  about  three 
thousand  persons.  The  seats  are  in  a  semicircle,  rising  up 
toward  the  rear,  as  is  now  common  in  public  halls.  The 
door  is  beliind  the  pulpit,  on  the  left-hand.  Each  one  has 
his  own  place,  which  he  finds  by  an  instinct.  If  he  takes 
the  wrong  one,  he  can  neither  see  nor  hear  anything. 
Nor  is  it  lawful  in  Heaven  to  stand  behind  another  and 
look  at  the  back  of  his  head.  If  you  do,  you  prevent  the 
influx  of  goodness  and  truth  from  the  Lord. 

One  thing  which  differences  Swedenborg  from  many 
mystics  is  that  he  finds  law  everywhere.  Tliere  is  nothing 
arbitrary  in  his  visions  of  the  other  world.  It  is  the  home 
of  univ^ersal  law.  God  acts  by  law  there  exactly  as  he 
does  here.  Thus  the  doctrines  of  Swedenborg  are  a  kind 
of  Rationalism,  —  ]\fystical  Itationalism,  if  you  please,  but 
still  very  rational  always. 

Swedenborg,  like  modern  science,  saw  no  abrupt  transi- 
tions in  this  life  or  that  which  follows  it,  both  worlds 
being  under  the  same  laws.  His  doctrine  of  Degrees 
teaches  that  everywhere  tliere  is  gradation,  —  steps  lead- 
ing from  one  fact  to  another.     These  degrees  make  an 


288         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

order  everywhere.  Continuous  degrees  are  the  gradation 
from  light  to  shade,  heat  to  cold,  etc.  Discrete  degrees 
are  where  things  are  intimately  related  yet  distinct,  — 
like  soul  and  body,  or  cause  and  effect. 

His  aversion  to  all  abrupt  change  appears  in  his  account 
of  the  very  slight  transition  which  occurs  at  death.  When 
one  dies,  he  often  does  not  know  that  he  is  dead.  Every- 
thing around  him  looks  as  it  always  did,  —  the  sam.e  land 
and  sky,  trees,  houses,  men,  and  women. 

Here  are  some  of  his  stories  about  death.  He  said  : 
"A  certain  spirit  supposed  himself  to  be  still  on  earth.  I 
was  allowed  to  inform  him  tliat  he  was  a  spirit.  On  hear- 
ing this  he  fled  away  in  terror,  crying  out :  '  I  am  a  spirit ! 
I  am  a  spirit ! ' " 

At  the  first  entrance  into  another  life  people  continue 
very  much  as  they  were  here.  Curious  souls  go  sight- 
seeing, and  are  shown  beautiful  gardens,  palaces,  and  the 
like.     Every  one  creates  a  world  for  himself. 

When  Martin  Luther  arrived  in  the  spiritual  world  he 
continued  to  teach  Justification  by  Faith  alone  ;  so  a  house 
was  allotted  to  him,  and  in  one  of  the  rooms,  at  a  little 
desk,  he  received  hearers  and  lectured  to  them  as  he  had 
done  on  earth.  When  Calvin  arrived  he  thought  he  was 
still  on  the  earth,  because  he  seemed  to  have  the  same 
body.  He  went  about  searching  for  those  spirits  who  be- 
lieved in  Predestination.  In  their  society  he  was  happy. 
But  as  they  were  sent  away  he  became  weary  of  himself, 
and  went  among  some  simple-minded  spirits ;  but  when 
he  found  they  could  not  understand  Predestination  he  hid 
in  a  corner  and  kept  silence. 

Swedenborg  seems  to  have  had  as  great  a  taste  for  the 
society  of  distinguished  people  as  the  modern  mediums. 
A  spiritual  seance  would  not  be  thought  much  of  at  which 
some  eminent  persons  were  not  present,  such  as  Shake- 


THE    MYSTICS    IN    ALL   KLLIGIONS.  289 

speare,  Bacon,  Napoleon,  or  Geor^^e  Wasliin^^rton  ;  so  we  find 
Swedeuborg  conversing  witli  the  Twelve  Apostles,  Aris- 
totle, 8t.  Augustine,  the  Kuijieror  Augustus,  several  popes, 
King  David,  Cicero,  Georgt;  Fox  the  Quaker,  King  George 
IL,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  St.  Paul,  Leihnitz,  Louis  XIV., 
Luther  and  Loyola,  St.  John,  Mohauinied,  the  Virgin  Mary, 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Moses,  Virgil,  Xavier,  Sir  Hans  Sloane, 
and  William  Penn.  In  many  cases  he  seemed  to  personify 
his  prejudices,  and  I  do  not  think  much  reliance  can  be 
placed  on  his  descriptions  of  character.  He  disliked  Paul 
and  David,  he  disliked  Luther  and  Calvin,  he  disliked  the 
Quakers ;  and  he  has  given  us  of  all  these,  not  portraits, 
but  caricatures.  Many  of  his  narrations  have  the  ai)pear- 
ance  of  fantastic  imaginations,  and  "are  such  stuff  as  dreams 
are  made  of." 

And  yet,  with  all  this,  there  is  so  much  that  is  original 
and  profound,  and  all  is  told  with  such  evident  honesty, 
that  Swedenborg  remains  one  of  the  most  insoluble  of 
problems.  Those  who  accept  all  that  he  says  as  true,  and 
the  man  as  divinely  commissioned,  have  no  difficulty ; 
those  who  regard  him  as  a  mere  fanatic  and  enthusiast 
have  no  difficulty ;  but  one  who  wislies  to  be  just,  botli  to 
the  man  and  to  his  own  reason,  finds  it  hard  to  decide.  For 
here  is  a  man  endnent  in  science,  an  accomplished  mathe- 
matician, anatomist,  metallurgist,  —  a  man  who  had  writ- 
ten thirty-four  works  before  he  was  fifty-five  years  old, 
and  after  that  became  the  subject  of  these  mysterious  reve- 
lations. His  writings  down  to  that  time  were  books  in 
Latin  and  Swedish,  on  mathematics,  on  the  manufacture 
of  tin-plate,  on  finding  the  longitude,  on  the  motion  of  the 
earth  and  planets,  on  the  tide-levels,  moneys,  measures, 
docks,  salt-works,  the  manufacture  of  iron,  chemistry,  navi- 
gation, and  the  like.  Wlien  fifty-five  years  old  lie  suddenly 
begins  to  have  his  visions,  and  from  that  time  writes  and 

19 


290  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

publishes  some  thirty  or  forty  works,  containing  the  doc- 
trines of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

With  much  that  apparently  indicates  the  personal  limi- 
tations of  the  author,  —  there  remains  a  wonderful  amount 
of  wisdom.  These  deliverances  are  of  a  noble  order  of 
thought ;  their  influence  is  to  uplift  the  soul ;  they  present 
a  view  of  God  and  the  Universe  which,  on  the  whole, 
commends  itself  to  the  reason.  It  is  perhaps  best  not  to 
attempt  any  solution  of  this  problem,  but  to  take  and  use 
what  is  good  in  these  writings  and  to  leave  the  rest ;  and 
if  we  would  give  a  name  to  this  system,  we  might  call  it 
Eational  Mysticism.  We  may  safely  leave  undecided  the 
question  how  far  these  walks  and  talks  with  spirits  were 
imaginary,  and  how  far  real.  After  reading  many  of  them, 
we  get  a  little  tired,  and  sometimes  feel  as  Hotspur  did  in 
listening  to  the  Conjurer  Glendower;  though  we  would 
not  be  so  irreverent  as  to  apply  this  to  Swendenborg :  — 

"  He  angers  me 
With  such  a  deal  of  skimble-skamble  stuff, 
As  puts  me  from  my  faith.     I  tell  you  what,  — 
He  held  me,  but  last  night,  at  least  nine  hours 
In  reckoning  up  the  several  devils'  names 
That  were  his  lackeys  :  0  he  's  tedious  ! " 

But  let  us  consider  these  stories  as  illustrations  of  what 
Milton  said  before,  anticipating  Swedenborg  :  — 

"  What  if  earth 
Be  but  the  shadow  of  Heaven,  and  things  therein 
Each  to  other  like,  more  than  on  earth  is  thought  ;  "    . 

illustrating  the  great  truths  that  punishments  are  neither 
arbitrary  nor  capricious,  but  benignant  and  according  to 
divine  laws ;  that  there  is  no  abrupt  change  from  life  to 
life ;  that  Heaven  is  not  outward  felicity,  but  doing  good 
through   truth  from  love ;    that  inward  character   makes 


THE   MYSTICS   IN    ALL   KELIGIONS.  2'Jl 

Heaven  or  Hell.  If  we  learn  such  trutlis  as  these  iVoni 
Svvedenborg,  we  may  accept  them  gratefully,  and  leave  tlie 
question  of  how  lie  obtained  them  unsettled. 

Curiously  enough,  Swedenhorg  seems  to  reverse  the 
})rocess  of  other  mystics.  Instead  of  going  out  of  nature, 
and  being  lost  in  spirit,  he  spiritualizes  all  of  nature.  In- 
stead of  being  absorbed  in  God,  he  receives  an  inlhix  from 
God  to  use  for  the  world.  God  descends  into  him  ;  he  does 
not  ascend  into  God.  In  short,  Swedenborg's  system  is 
not  only  a  National  Mysticism,  but  also  a  Spiritual  Nat- 
uralism. 

§  4.  American  Mystics.  Raliyh  Waldo  Emerson,  Jones 
Very.  —  I  shall  now  speak  of  another  thinker  and  writer 
among  ourselves,  who  has  also  been  called  a  mystic,  —  I 
mean  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  During  the  last  forty  years 
his  writings  have  exercised  an  ever  increasing  influence, 
not  only  in  this  country  but  also  in  Europe. 

The  leaders  of  thought  refer  frequently  to  him  as  one  of 
their  masters.  He  has  won  this  distinction  by  his  pene- 
trating insight  into  things  natural  and  divine,  by  the 
unclouded  transparency  of  his  intellectual  vision,  by  the 
elevation  and  purity  of  his  thoughts,  and  by  a  certain  pro- 
phetic vision  which  has  enabled  him  to  foresee  truths  to 
which  others  arrived  long  after.  There  are  also  united  in 
him,  as  in  other  men  of  the  greatest  genius,  intellectual 
courage  and  intellectual  modesty.  With  all  this  there 
is  the  charm  of  a  temper  which  nothing  has  been  able 
to  irritate,  a  patience  which  could  abide  its  time,  a  wit 
like  the  flash  of  a  diamond  which  delights  but  does  not 
wound,  and  a  mastery  of  the  resources  of  the  English 
language  before  unknown  among  us. 

Emerson  is  no  logician  nor  metaphysician,  nor  has  he 
ever  pretended  to  be  so.  For  such  mental  action  he  has 
no  taste.     A  man  of  insights,  he  simply  tells  what  he  sees. 


292  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Professing  no  system,  he  has  not  been  obliged  to  defend 
any  system,  nor  to  attack  that  of  others.  Like  his  own 
"Humble  Bee,"   he  takes  what   suits  him  and  goes   his 

way :  — 

"  All  beside  was  empty  waste, 

All  was  picture  as  he  passed." 

When  he  first  began  to  write  and  lecture  he  urged 
two  leading  ideas  which,  though  certainly  not  contra- 
dictory, were  apparently  antagonistic  truths,  and  truths 
which  he  never  attempted  to  reconcile.  These  were  Self- 
reliance  on  the  one  side,  and  God-reliance  on  the  other. 
Self-reliance  he  taught  as  against  all  slavery  to  custom, 
all  subserviency  to  opinion,  —  as  intellectual  integrity. 
He  called  on  all  men  to  be  themselves,  to  trust  their  own 
thought,  not  to  defer  to  conventionalities.  "  Imitation," 
said  he,  "is  suicide, — even  imitation  of  one's  self.  I  must 
be  true  to  myself  of  to-day,  even  if  I  contradict  myself  of 
yesterday.  No  law  is  sacred  but  that  of  my  own  nature. 
We  are  too  much  swayed  by  every  decent  and  well-spoken 
individuaL"     In  one  place  he  says  :  — 

"  I  must  speak  the  rude  truth  in  all  ways.  .  .  .  Our  good- 
ness must  have  edge  to  it.  .  .  .  If  an  angry  bigot  assumes  this 
beautiful  cause  of  Abolition,  should  I  not  say  to  him  :  '  Go  love 
thy  infant ;  be  good-natured  and  modest,  and  never  varnish 
your  hard  uncharitable  ambition  with  this  incredible  tenderness 
for  black  folk  a  thousand  miles  off.' " 

He  opposed  conformity  to  usages  which  had  become 
dead  to  him,  —  to  a  dead  church  or  a  dead  party.  He 
opposed  giving  to  charitable  objects  because  others  gave  — 
''to  educate  fools  in  colleges.  .  .  .  giving  alms  to  sots;" 
and  though,  as  he  confessed,  he  sometimes  gave  the  dollar, 
he  declared  it  a  wacked  dollar  which  by  and  by  he  would 
have  the  manhood  to  withhold. 


THE   MYSTICS    IN    ALI.    UKLIGIONS.  293 

"  I  liope  tluit  ill  these  days  we  Imve  heard  the  last  of  con- 
formity and  consistency.  I  will  never  how  and  apologize  more. 
A  great  man  is  coming  to  my  house ;  I  do  not  wish  to  please 
him  ;  I  wish  that  he  should  wish  to  please  me." 

This  doctrine  of  personal  independence  Emerson  taught 
in  an  infinite  variety  of  ways,  and  it  sank  deep  into  tlie 
thought  of  that  period.  Commonplace  enough  now,  it  was 
new  and  very  necessary  then.  Emerson's  imitators  carried 
it  to  an  extreme  and  affected  eccentricity,  because  they 
were  not  as  strong  as  he  and  could  not  hold  their  own 
modestly,  but  were  obliged  to  sunmion  all  men  to  see  how 
independent  they  were  ;  but  the  teaching,  nevertheless,  was 
very  wholesome  and  profitable. 

The  first  series  of  Essays,  which  contained  the  best  on 
"  Self-Reliance,"  c(jntained  another  on  "  The  Over-Soul." 
This  gave  the  other  view  of  life,  and  herein  was  taught 
not  Self-reliance  but  God-reliance.  Here  came  in  the 
element  of  mysticism.  You  will  find  in  that  essay  nearly 
every  thought  with  which  we  have  become  familiar  in  the 
Persian  Ssufis,  the  Hindoo  Brahmans,  Master  Eckhart, 
and   Tauler. 

This  essay  teaches,  with  Plotinus,  that  we  rise  into  the 
Infinite  only  in  occasional  and  brief  moments,  that  these 
inspired  moments  mark  an  infliuc  from  a  hidden  source 
which  is  not  tcs  but  above  us.  He  says  :  "  I  desire,  and 
look  up,  and  put  myself  in  the  attitude  of  reception.  I 
am  a  pensioner,  not  the  source  of  this  ethereal  water  ;  from 
some  higher  energy  these  visions  come."  He  teaches,  then, 
the  same  doctrine  of  passive  reception  which  the  universal 
church  of  mystics  has  steadily  proclaimed. 

He  teaches  also  another  mystical  doctrine,  that  w^e  become 
ourselves  the  universal  soul  by  receiving  it,  —  "the  wise 
silence,  the  universal  beauty,  the  eternal  one." 

As  He'jel  and  lamblichus  and  Jacob   Buchine  tauiilit, 


294  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

SO  Emerson  distinctly  asserts,  that  subject  and  object  are 
one  in  tliis  ineffable  moment  of  intellectual  intuition. 
"  The  act  of  seeing  and  the  thing  seen,  the  seer  and  the 
spectacle,  the  subject  and  the  object,  are  one." 

He  goes  further  and  announces,  as  Swedenborg  had 
declared  already,  that  all  the  substance  in  man  is  divine, 
—  not  man  but  God ;  that  we  are  only  forms  to  be  filled 
by  a  perpetual  influx  from  above. 

"  When  this  over-soul  breathes  through  man's  intellect  it  is 
genius  ;  through  his  will,  it  is  virtue  ;  through  his  aftections,  it 
is  love.  .  .  .  The  simplest  person  who  in  his  integrity  worships 
God,  becomes  God.  .  .  .  Behold  !  he  says,  I  am  born  into  the 
great,  the  universal  mind.  I,  the  imperfect,  adore  my  own 
perfect." 

The  motto  of  the  volume  says  the  same  thing :  — 

"  I  am  the  owner  of  the  sphere, 
Of  the  seven  stars,  and  the  solar  year  ; 
Of  Caesar's  hand  and  Plato's  brain  ; 
Of  Lord  Christ's  heart  and  Shakespeare's  strain." 

All  this  seems  to  touch  the  verge  of  Pantheism ;  but 
does  not  all  religion  approach  very  near  that  perilous 
abyss  ?  We  could  cite  many  passages  from  the  Bible 
which  seem  to  graze  the  edge  of  Pantheism ;  much  as  the 
comet  of  1680  seemed  almost  to  fall  into  the  sun,  yet 
circled  close  round  it,  and  darted  away  again  into  outer 
space.  In  fact,  language  is  too  poor  to  say  what  we  wish 
on  such  themes,  and  when  we  try  to  speak  of  communion 
with  God  we  may  be  pardoned  some  extreme  expres- 
sions. 

At  the  time  Mr.  Emerson  began  to  write  and  speak, 
the  elders  in  this  community  were  men  trained  in  the 
school  of  Locke,  Addison,  Pope,  —  and  to  them  he  seemed 
"  a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods."  His  language  also  was 
obscure   and  new-fangled  in  their  ears.     They  called   it 


THE   MYSTICS   IN   ALL  RELIGIONS.  205 

affectation,  not  knowing  that  it  was  derived  from  tlie  purest 
fountains  of  old  English  literature.  When  the  Dial  ap- 
peared, in  1841,  the  astonishment  of  the  more  conserva- 
tive citizens  became  greater.  I  do  not  wonder  at  it.  What 
could  they  make  of  some  of  ^Ir.  Alcott's  "  Orphic  Sayings," 
which  began  thus  :  — 

"Thou  art,  my  heart,  a  soul-flower,  facing  ever  and  following 
the  motions  of  thy  suu,  i)leading  thy  affinity  with  the  celestial 
orbs,  .  .  .  Believe,  youth,  that  your  heart  is  an  oracle.  The 
lieart  is  the  pro{)liet  of  tlie  soul.  Great  is  the  heart ;  she 
is  big  with  the  fiitiu'o.  .  .  .  Choice  implies  apt)stasy.  The 
j)ure  soul  is  above  choice.  .  .  .  Reason  is  the  left  hand  of 
instinct ; "  — 

and  so  on  through  a  ddzen  pages.     Or  what  could  sober 

citizens  think  of  such  verses  as  these,  which  habitually 

appeared  in  the  Dial,  from  the  younger  sort  of  Transcen- 

dentalists  ?  — 

"  Greatly  to  be 
Is  enough  for  me, 
Is  enough  for  thee  ;  " 

or  when  a  pjoet  informed  his  lady-love  that  he  "lay  be- 
neath her  soul  like  a  lit  tree,"  and  that  his 

"  Fanta.<«y  was  slow, 
E'er  Isabel  could  die." 

In  fact  Mr.  Emerson  had  a  theory  of  his  own  in  edit- 
ing the  Dial.  He  was  always  looking  for  some  new 
Messiah  of  thought,  "  whose  shoe-latchets  lie  himself 
would  not  be  worthy  to  unloose."  The  most  modest 
of  men  as  regarded  his  own  wTitings,  he  was  a  some- 
what indiscreet  admirer  of  all  that  seemed  original  in 
others.  He  encouraged  every  one  to  write  in  the  Dial 
who  wished,  on  this  condition,  —  that  each  should  have 


296  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

something  to  say  which  was  unusual  and  unconven- 
tional, something  which  should  defy  what  Shelley  calls 
"  the  Anarch  Custom."  Nor  did  he  always  perceive 
that  these  eccentricities  were  not  originalities,  but  some- 
times only  poor  imitations  of  himself.  Every  morn- 
ing when  he  awoke  he  was  hoping  that  day  to  find 
the  coming  genius,  the  man  who  was  to  revolutionize 
the  world ;  and  many  disappointments  could  not  cure 
this  generous  hope. 

Shortly  before  the  time  of  the  Dial  another  genuine 
mystic  a2:)peared  in  New  England,  who  imitated  no  one, 
and  seemed  the  outgrowth  of  the  soil.  I  mean  Jones 
Very.  He  published  sonnets  which  were  utterances  of 
his  own  soul,  and  had  a  purity  like  that  of  the  air  in  a 
bright  December  day  in  New  England.  Some  of  these,  I 
think,  will  not  perish.  I  will  give  one,  not  the  best  but 
better  than  others  (first  published  by  me  in  a  periodical 
which  I  edited  in  Kentucky  in  1838),  which  I  received 
with  other  sonnets  from  Mr.  Very  with  a  note  in  which  he 
said :  — 

"  I  was  moved  to  send  you  these  sonnets.  That  they  may 
help  those  in  affliction  for  Christ's  name,  is  ever  the  prayer  of 
me,  his  disciple,  called  to  be  a  witness  of  his  sufferings  and  an 
expectant  of  his  glory." 

"  I  cannot  tell  the  sorrows  that  I  feel 

By  the  night's  darkness,  by  the  prison's  gloom ; 
There  is  no  sis^^ht  that  can  the  death  reveal 

The  spirit  suffers  in  earth's  living  tomb. 
There  is  no  sound  of  grief  that  mourners  raise, 

No  moaning  of  the  wind  or  dirge-like  sea, 
Nor  hymns,  though  prophet-tones  inspire  the  lays, 

That  can  the  spirit's  grief  awake  in  thee. 
Thou,  too,  must  suffer,  as  it  suffers  here, 

The  death  in  Christ  to  know  the  Father's  love  ; 


THE   MYSTICS    IN    ALL    IlELIGIOXS.  297 

Then,  in  the  strains  that  angels  love  to  hear, 

Tliou,  too,  slialt  hear  the  spirits'  song  above  ; 
And  learn,  in  grief,  what  these  can  never  tell, 
A  note  too  deep  for  eart]:ly  voice  to  swell." 

This  same  sad,  plaintive,  ho[)eful,  adorinir  strain,  runs 
through  all  these  sonnets.  Mr.  Very  believed,  with  Ma- 
dame Guion  nnd  others,  that  sin  is  self-will ;  and  holiness, 
absolute  obedienee  in  all  things,  small  and  great,  to  the 
will  of  God  made  known  in  the  soul.  He  believed  liim- 
self  led  in  all  things  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  so  illu- 
minated as  not  to  think  or  conjecture  or  believe,  but  to 
know. 

Is  it  not  a  singular  fact  that  in  all  lands  and  races  there 
sliould  be  found  men  firmly  convinced  that  the  finite  soul 
can  come  into  intimate  union  with  the  Infinite  Spirit  ? 
And  these  men  have  been  select  men,  —  not  weak,  not 
mere  enthusiasts,  but  with  a  power  of  convincing  others 
and  of  influencin^r  their  time.  One  thin<T  at  least  this 
proves,  that  there  is  some  mysterious  tie  Ijetween  time  and 
eternity,  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite,  between  the 
human  heart  and  the  Divine  Heart  of  the  Universe.  The 
opinions  of  these  mystics  may  have  been  false,  their 
methods  unsound,  tlieir  conclusions  doubtful ;  but  this 
wide  experience  sliows  that  there  is  a  relation  between  the 
creature  and  the  Creator,  and  that  we  are  intended  in 
some  way,  at  some  time,  to  be  brought  into  union  with 
Him. 

The  one  truth  in  all  mysticism  is  that  God  is  nearer  to 
us  than  any  other  one  is,  and  that  a  right  attitude  of  soul 
is  better  than  all  doctrines  or  ceremonies.  It  is  faith  in 
the  relation  of  the  finite  child  to  his  Infinite  Father,  and 
the  possibility  of  communion  with  him.  All  worship,  all 
love,  is  surrounded  with  mystery ;  all  that  we  know  is  sur- 
rounded by  the  vast  unknown. 


298         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

Tennyson,  not  only  the  sweetest  but  one  of  the  deepest 
poets  of  our  time,  does  justice  to  the  Mystic  in  one  of  his 
noblest  poems :  — 

'•  Angels  have  talked  with  him  and  showed  him  thrones. 


He  often  lying  broad-awake,  and  yet 
Remaining  from  the  body,  and  apart 
In  intellect  and  power  and  will,  hath  heard 
Time  flowing  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
And  all  things  creeping  to  a  day  ot"  doom. 
How  could  ye  know  him  ?     Ye  were  yet  within 
The  narrower  circle.     He  had  well  nigh  reached 
The  last,  which,  with  a  region  of  white  flame, 
Pure,  without  heat,  into  a  larger  air 
Upburning,  and  an  ether  of  black-blue, 
Investeth  and  ingirds  all  other  lives." 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QL'AKEliS.  299 


X. 

GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS. 

§  1.  Tlui  Quaker  movemcrU  a  remarkable  oiie,  having  in 
it  tJic  seed  of  manij  modern  rcfmins.  —  After  the  mystics, 
whom  we  coDsiclered  in  our  last  lecture,  the  Quakers  follow 
very  naturally.  These  are  the  English  mystics,  —  mystics 
adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  English  mind.  The  English, 
the  most  practical  of  nations,  must  take  their  mysticism  in 
a  practical  way,  embodied  in  a  sect,  with  its  creed,  forms, 
modes  of  worship.  Mysticism  in  England  must  fall  into 
line  and  drill  according  to  the  English  methods.  Other 
mystics  have  been  satisfied  with  lonely  communion  with 
God.  The  English  mystics  naturally  build  meeting-houses, 
organize  societies,  make  proselytes,  send  out  missionaries, 
write  arguments,  reply  to  criticisms.  Accordingly,  this  is 
the  form  which  mysticism  took  in  England.  The  New 
Jerusalem  of  Swedenborg,  which  he  himself  regarded  not 
as  a  new  sect  but  as  a  leaven  to  penetnite  all  sects,  was,  in 
England,  not  put  into  the  meal,  but  into  one  corner  of  the 
bread-trough  by  itself.  This  seems  unfortunate,  for  it  has 
probably  limited  the  spread  of  the  truths  contained  in  that 
noble  doctrine.  In  like  manner  the  truths  of  Quakerism 
have  been  restrained  in  tlieir  influence  by  the  formation  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  as  another  sect. 

Whatever  the  cause  of  this  check,  it  is  stranire  to  see 
that  the  early  Quakers  anticipated,  two  hundred  years  ago, 


300  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

the  reforms  which  are  only  being  carried  out  to-day.  In 
an  aoe  when  all  men  thought  Imman  slavery  a  reasonable, 
just,  and  Christian  institution,  the  Friends  bore  their  testi- 
mony against  it.  War  then,  as  now,  was  believed  a  neces- 
sary evil;  but  the  Friends  called  it  a  sin  in  which  no 
Christian  man  should  take  part,  either  by  military  service 
or  by  paying  taxes  to  support  the  army.  Quakers  first 
believed  in  equal  rights  for  women,  allowing  them  to 
speak  and  preach  in  public.  They  were  from  the  begin- 
ning^ consistent  non-resistants  and  consistent  abolition- 
ists,  opposing  also  that  system  of  judicial  oaths  which  has 
made  some  forms  of  perjury  a  common  matter.  They  pro- 
tested against  the  system  of  capital  punishments  which 
then  made  death  the  penalty  for  so  many  petty  crimes. 
They  protested  against  imprisonment  for  debt,  which  has 
only  been  abolished  in  Massachusetts  within  our  memory. 
They  protested  against  extravagance  and  waste,  vanity  and 
idle  luxury,  the  senseless  changes  of  fashion,  and  all  false- 
hood in  act  or  speech. 

How  startling  in  those  days,  when  the  Eeforraation  in 
England  was  like  a  young  chicken  still  carrying  about  its 
shell  on  its  back,  were  the  daring  religious  reforms  of  this 
Society,  —  its  denunciation  of  a  hireling  ministry ;  its  re- 
jection of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ;  its  making  the 
authority  of  the  Bible  subordinate  to  that  of  the  personal 
interior  conviction  of  each  soul ;  its  declaration  that  men 
can  be  saved  in  all  religions  by  means  of  the  inward  light 
"  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world  ; "  its 
rejection  of  all  the  traditions  of  the  Church  ;  its  criticisms 
on  what  are  called  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
Tiie  Quakers  do  not  now  alarm  the  world,  because  it  is 
seen  that  their  beliefs  are  not  likely  to  spread  widely  ;  but 
in  the  beginning,  when  their  doctrines  were  rapidly  ex- 
tending on  all  sides,  and  no  one  knew  "  to  what  this  might 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  301 

grow,"  no  wonder  tliey  were  attacked,  reviled,  and  hated, 
—  as,  uubai)pily  for  the  lueniory  of  our  Turitan  Fathers, 
they  were  persecuted  liere  in  Boston.  Dryden  says 
that : — 

"  Hi^i;h  turrets,  in  their  airy  sweep, 
Retiuire  foundations  in  jirojtortion  deep, — 
And  lolly  cediirs  as  far  upward  shoot 
As  to  the  nether  heavens  they  drive  the  root." 

Let  us  then  look  at  the  origin  of  the  Quakers,  to  see 
what  the  root  was  out  of  which  such  notable  reforms 
came. 

§  2.  Gcorijc  Fox,  tlic  Founder  of  Q^takerism.  His  E:qjeri- 
CTiccs.  — ^^  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  tlie  Society  of  Friends, 
was  born  in  1024  at  Drayton,  in  Leicestershire.  His  father, 
he  says,  "  was  a  weaver,  an  honest  man ;  and  there  was  a 
seed  of  God  in  him.  Tlie  neighbors  called  him  Righteous 
Christer.  My  mother  was  an  upright  woman ;  her  name 
was  Lago,  and  she  was  of  the  stock  of  the  martyrs."  In 
his  younger  years,  Fox  was  noticed  for  a  gravity  and  staid- 
ness  of  spirit  unusual  among  children.  When  eleven  years 
old,  he  says,  "  he  knew  pureness  and  righteousness,  the 
L<')rd  teaching  him  to  be  faitliful  inwardly  to  God  and  out- 
wardly to  man,  and  to  keep  to  Yea  and  Nay  in  all  things." 
His  parents,  who  were  mend^ers  of  the  Churcdi  of  England, 
desired  to  train  him  up  to  that  way  of  worship,  but  they 
did  not  press  him  to  conform.  As  lie  grew  up,  some  of 
liis  relations  were  for  making  a  priest  of  him,  but  others 
pei*suad(!d  to  the  contrary ;  so  he  was  apprenticed  to  a 
shoemaker,  who  also  dealt  in  wool  and  liad  many  sheep. 
Fox  took  delight  in  the  sheep,  and  taking  care  of  them  was 
an  employment  that  suited  his  mind.  In  his  dealings  he 
used  the  word  "  verily,"  and  people  said :  "  If  George  says 
Verily,  there  is  no  altering  him."  About  tliis  time,  being 
nineteen  years  old,  he  wa.«;  mucli  shocked  by  discovering 


302         EVENTS   AND    ErOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

that  to  profess  religion  was  not  the  same  thing  as  to  prac- 
tise it.  Some  professors  of  religion  asked  him  into  a  booth 
at  a  fair,  and  they  began  to  drink  healths.  On  this  George 
Fox  left  them,  and  went  home  in  great  affliction.  He 
could  not  sleep  that  night,  but  walked  up  and  down  and 
prayed  to  the  Lord ;  and  it  was  borne  in  upon  his  mind 
"  that  since  young  people  went  to  vanity  and  old  people 
to  the  earth,  I  must  forsake  all,  keep  away  from  all,  and  be 
as  a  stranger  to  them." 

So  in  1643  he  left  his  relatives,  and  broke  off  all  famil- 
iarity with  young  or  old.  He  left  home  and  travelled 
from  place  to  place,  his  mind  being  in  a  state  of  distress. 
This  condition  of  religious  anxiety  lasted  several  years. 
He  met  with  many  professors  of  religion,  but  saw  that 
they  did  not  possess  what  they  professed.  He  went  to 
many  a  priest  for  comfort,  but  could  find  none.  He  went 
to  London,  hoping  to  get  some  satisfaction  from  the  great 
religious  professors  of  that  city,  but  he  saw  that  all  were 
under  the  chain  of  darkness.  Hearing  that  his  parents 
were  troubled  at  his  absence,  and  probably  concluding  that 
the  Word  he  wanted  was  not  to  be  found  beyond  the  sea 
or  over  the  land,  he  went  home  again  to  Leicestershire. 
The  remedies  suggested  for  liis  state  of  mind  were  —  that 
he  should  marry;  that  lie  should  enlist  as  a  soldier  in  the 
armies  of  Parliament,  which  had  just  conquered  Prince 
Ptupert ;  that  he  should  take  physic  and  be  bled ;  and  one 
priest,  with  whom  he  reasoned  about  the  ground  of  despair 
and  of  temptation,  advised  him  to  take  tobacco  and  sing 
psalms ;  "  but,"  says  Fox,  "  tobacco  was  a  thing  I  did  not 
love,  and  j)salms  I  was  not  in  a  state  to  sing ; "  and  he  was 
grieved  to  have  opened  his  mind  to  such  a  man.  He  found 
his  advisers  all  miserable  comforters.  One  who  lived  at 
Tamworth  was  said  to  be  "  an  experienced  man."  He  went 
to  see  him  and  found  him  like  a  hollow  cask.     They  tried 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  303 

to  bleed  him,  —  the  universal  remedy  then  for  all  diseases, 
bodily  and  mental,  —  but  could  ^x-t  no  Ijlood  from  his 
arms  or  head,  his  body  being  dried  u\)  with  troubles  and 
griefs  which  were  so  great  upon  him  that  he  wished  he 
had  never  been  born,  or  been  born  blind  and  deaf  so  as 
not  to  see  the  wicked  actions  nor  hear  the  wicked  words 
of  men. 

Slowly  certain  convictions  came  into  his  mind,  which 
he  regarded  as  the  openings  of  the  Lord  to  his  soul. 
First  that  "  only  those  were  really  believers  in  Christ 
who  had  passed  from  death  to  life ; "  second,  that  "  being 
bred  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  did  not  make  a  man  fit  to 
be  a  minister  of  Christ."  Following  this  light  he  left  off 
going  with  his  relatives  to  their  church ;  neither  did  he  go 
to  that  of  the  Dissenters ;  but  went  into  the  fields  with 
his  Bible  alone,  and  quoted  in  his  defence  the  words  : 
"  Ye  need  no  man  to  teach  you,  for  the  anointing  teaches 
you."  The  next  revelation  was  that  "  God  did  not  dwell 
in  temples  made  with  hands,"  which  seemed  at  first  strange, 
because  priests  and  people  called  their  temples  or  churches 
Holy  Places,  Temples  of  God,  and  Holy  Ground.  He  felt 
now  certain  that  there  was  an  inward  anointing  in  every 
man  to  teach  him.  He  also  had  great  openings  about 
the  Book  of  Revelations ;  and  when  people  said,  "  That 
is  a  sealed  book,"  he  answered,  "  Christ  can  open  the 
seals." 

In  these  times  all  sorts  of  notions  were  fermenting  in 
people's  minds.  George  Fox  met  some  who  thought 
women  had  no  souls  (some  people  think  so  still !),  whom 
he  rebuked,  saying  that  Mary  said:  "My  soul  doth 
magnify  the  Lord."  He  also  met  people  who  believed 
in  dreams.  He  told  them  that  they  ought  to  distin- 
guish between  three  kinds  of  dreams  — "  dreams  which 
come  of  multitude   of  business,  dreams   which    come  of 


304        EVENTS   AND  EPOCHS   IN  EELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

whisperings  of  Satan,  and  dreams  which  are  utterances 
of  God." 

George  Fox  had  now  taken  again  to  travelling  about 
from  place  to  place,  and  it  appears  he  had  also  adopted 
his  singular  costume  of  leather,  —  a  dress  he  chose,  says 
Sewall,  partly  for  its  simplicity  and  partly  because  it 
needed  but  little  mending.  He  travelled  not  to  see  people 
but  rather  to  avoid  seeing  them,  and  was  alone  in  crowds. 
He  sometimes  met  with  "  tender  people,"  but  his  troubles 
continued.  He  fasted  much,  walked  abroad  in  solitary 
places,  many  days  took  his  Bible  and  sat  in  hollow  trees 
and  lonesome  places  till  night  came  on,  and  frequently 
walked  mournfully  by  himself  all  night.     He  says  :  — 

''  I  was  a  man  of  sorrows  in  the  time  of  the  first  workings 

of  the  Lord  in  me Though  my  exercises  and  troubles 

were  great,  they  were  not  so  continual  but  I  had  some  in- 
termissions, and  was  sometimes  brought  into  a  heavenly  joy. 
As  I  cannot  declare  the  misery  I  was  in,  so  neither  can  I  set 
forth  the  mercies  of  God  unto  me  in  all  my  misery.  Thou, 
Lord,  makest  a  fruitful  field  a  barren  wilderness,  and  a  barren 
wilderness  a  fruitful  field  !  Thou  bringest  down  and  settest  up! 
Thou  killest  and  makest  alive  !  All  honor  and  glory  be  to  thee, 
0  Lord  of  Glory.  The  knowledge  of  thee  in  the  spirit  is  life, 
but  the  knowledge  which  is  fleshly  works  death.  While  there 
is  this  knowledge  in  the  flesh,  deceit  and  self  will  conform  to 
nnything,  and  say  Yes,  Yes,  to  that  it  doth  not  know.  The 
knowledge  which  the  world  hath  of  what  the  apostles  and 
prophets  spoke,  is  a  fleshly  knowledge  ;  and  the  apostates  from 
that  life  in  which  these  apostles  were,  have  got  their  words  — 
the  Holy  Scriptures  —  in  a  form,  but  not  in  the  life  or  spirit 
which  gave  them  forth." 

Though  George  Fox  turned  from  the  priests  of  the 
Church  to  the  Dissenters,  he  found  no  man  that  could 
speak  to  his  condition  ;  and  when  all  hope  in  them  and 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  305 

in  all  men  was  gone,  then  he  lieard  a  voice  wlucli  said : 
"There  is  one,  even  Christ  Jesus,  whieli  can  speak  to  thy 
condition."     He  says  :  — 

"  WljL'ii  I  heard  it,  my  heart  leapt  for  joy.  My  desires  for 
tlie  pure  knowledge  of  Ood  grew  stronger,  and  I  sought  for  it 
without  the  help  of  any  book,  man,  or  writing.  For  though 
I  had  read  the  Scriptures  which  spoke  of  Christ  and  God,  yet  I 
knew  hiui  only  by  the  (inward)  revelation,  as  the  Father  of  life 
led  me  to  his  Son.  So  he  gently  led  me  on  and  let  me  see  his 
love,  which  was  endless  and  eternal,  surpassing  all  the  knowl- 
edge that  men  have  in  the  natural  state,  or  can  get  by  history 
or  books.  I  was  afraid  of  all  company,  for  I  saw  perfectly  what 
they  were,  through  the  love  of  God  which  made  me  see  myself. 
I  had  not  fellowship  with  any  |)Cople,  priests  or  professors,  but 
with  Christ  only  who  hath  the  key.  In  my  deepest  misery  the 
Lord  kept  me  in  hope,  for  I  saw  how  Christ  was  tempted  by 
the  same  Devil.  The  Lord  did  stay  my  desires  upon  himself. 
Therefore  all  wait  patiently  on  the  Lord,  whatsoever  condition 
ye  are  in  !  Wait  in  the  grace  and  truth  that  come  by  Jesus, 
for  if  ye  so  do,  there  is  a  promise  for  you,  and  the  Lord  will 
fulfil  it  in  you  !  I  have  found  it  so,  —  praised  be  the  Lord 
who  filleth  the  hungry  with  food  !  When  at  any  time  my  con- 
dition was  veiled,  my  secret  belief  was  stayed  firm,  and  hope 
underneath  held  me,  as  an  anchor  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
causing  my  soul  to  swim  above  the  sea  and  the  world." 

At  this  time  also,  1647,  it  was  revealed  to  him  that  the 
natures  of  those  things  which  are  hurtful  without,  were  in 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  wicked  men,  —  as  the  natures  of 
dogs,  swine,  vipers,  of  Sodom  and  Egypt,  of  Pharaoh,  Cain, 
Ishmael,  Esau.     He  said  :  — 

"  Why  should  I  be  thus,  seeing  I  was  never  addicted  to 
commit  those  evils'?  The  Lord  answered  that  it  was  needful 
that  I  should  have  a  sense  of  all  conditions ;  how  else  should  I 
speak  to  all  conditions'?    In  this  I  saw  the  infinite  love  of  God. 

20 


306          EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

I  saw  also  that  there  was  an  ocean  of  darkness  and  death,  but 
an  infinite  ocean  of  light  find  love  which  flowed  over  the  ocean 
of  darkness.  The  Lord  showed  me  also  that  people  and  pro- 
fessors trample  on  the  Word  of  Life  ;  they  feed  upon  words  and 
feed  one  another  on  words ;  and  live  in  their  airy  notions,  talk- 
ing of  Christ.  It  seemed  strange  to  me  that  I  should  feed  on 
what  the  high  professors  trampled  on." 

So  by  degrees  Fox  was  brought  through  this  ocean  of 
darkness  and  death,  and  his  troubles  began  to  wear  off ; 
tears  of  joy  dropped  from  him  in  humility  of  heart ;  he 
saw  into  that  which  has  no  end,  —  the  greatness  and 
infiniteness  of  the  love  of  God  which  cannot  be  expressed 
by  words.     Still,  temptations  sometimes  returned. 

"  One  morning  as  I  was  sitting  by  the  fire  a  great  cloud 
came  over  me,  a  temptation  beset  me,  and  I  sat  still.  It  was 
said,  '  All  things  come  by  nature,'  and  the  elements  and  stars 
came  over  me  so  that  I  was  in  a  manner  quite  clouded  by  it ; 
but  as  I  sat  still  and  said  nothing,  the  people  of  the  house  per- 
ceived nothing.  And  as  I  sat  still  under  it  and  let  it  alone,  a 
living  hope  and  a  true  voice  arose  in  me,  which  said,  '  There  is 
a  living  God,  which  made  all  things.'  Immediately  the  cloud 
and  the  temptation  vanished  away,  and  life  rose  over  it  all. 
My  heart  was  glad,  and  I  praised  the  living  God.  After  some 
time  I  met  some  people  who  maintained  that  all  things  came 
by  nature.  I  had  a  great  dispute  with  them  and  overcame 
them  ;  and  then  I  saw  that  it  was  good  that  I  had  gone  through 
that  exercise." 

Now  Fox  began  to  preach,  in  1648,  and  there  were 
others  who  sympathized  with  him  in  this  desire  to  look  in- 
wardly for  Christ  and  not  outwardly  to  books  and  preachers. 
No  doubt  there  was  a  preparation  in  the  public  mind  for 
these  views.  Men  were  tired  of  endless  disputes  about 
doctrine,  tired  of  the  hard  Puritanic  orthodoxy  around 
them,  weary  of  the  religion  of  outward  profession  and  of 


GEORGE    FUX   AND    THE   QUAKIiliS.  3()7 

the  letter  of  Scripture.  Protestantism  had  run  to  seed  in 
England  in  a  multitude  of  religious  sects  and  opinions,  and 
it  was  not  strange  tliat  there  should  be  many  who  lon<»ed 
to  fall  back  from  all  tliese  controversies  and  disputes,  upon 
some  deeper  and  more  interior  convictions. 

"  Now,"  says  Fox,  "  I  was  come  up  in  spirit,  through  the 
flaming  sword,  into  the  paradise  of  God.  All  things  were 
new,  and  the  creation  gave  another  smell  unto  me  than  before, 
beyond  what  words  can  utter.  I  knew  nothing  but  pure- 
ness,  innocency  and  righteousness ;  being  renewed  up  into 
the  image  of  God  l^y  Christ  Jesus,  so  tliat  I  was  come  to 
the  state  of  Adam  before  the  I'all."  He  adds  lliat  the  cre- 
ation was  opened  to  him  and  the  virtue  of  things  revealed, 
so  that  he  doubted  whether  he  ought  not  to  practise  physic 
for  the  good  of  mankind,  —  seeing  that  the  virtues  of  things 
were  thus  shown  to  him ;  but  soon  he  was  taught  in  the 
spirit  that  there  was  a  higher  state  than  that  of  Adam 
before  the  fall,  even  a  state  in  Christ  Jesus  that  could 
not  fall. 

About  this  time  it  was  revealed  to  him  that  the  three 
professions  of  law,  physic,  and  divinity  were  all  away  from 
true  knowledge :  the  priests  were  outside  of  tlie  true  fliith 
wliich  purities  and  gives  victory  ;  the  lawyers  outside  of 
true  justice  and  the  law  of  God ;  and  physicians  outside 
of  the  wisdom  of  God  in  which  all  creatures  were  made, 
so  as  not  to  understand  the  virtues  and  properties  of  tilings. 
God's  power,  however,  he  saw  might  reform  them  all  if 
they  would  receive  it.  The  priests  might  be  brought  into 
the  true  faith ;  the  lawyers  into  the  law  of  God  wliich  lets 
a  man  see  that  when  he  wrongs  another  he  wrongs  him- 
self; and  the  physicians  into  the  wisdom  of  God  so  as  to 
understand  the  nature  of  thinirs.  He  saw  also  that  thou<di 
the  priests  did  err,  they  were  not  the  greatest  deceivers 
spoken  of  in  Scripture;  but  those  were,  who,  like  Korah 


308  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

and  Abiram  and  Balaam,  had  some  knowledge  of  God's 
voice,  and  yet  through  covetousness  had  turned  away  from 
it.  He  also  saw  that  most  men,  in  reading  the  Scriptures, 
cry  out  against  Cain,  Esau,  and  Judas,  but  do  not  see  the 
nature  of  Cain  and  Judas  in  themselves.  They  say :  "  It 
was  they ; "  but  when  they  see  the  wild  nature  of  Ish- 
mael  in  themselves  they  say  :  "  1  am  Ishmael,  —  I  am 
Judas." 

He  also  saw  tiiat  by  reading  the  Scriptures  aright  we 
find  the  history  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  in  our- 
selves. Death  reigns  in  us  from  Adam  to  Moses,  —  that 
is,  from  the  time  we  commit  our  first  sin  till  we  come 
under  the  law  which  restrains  sin ;  then,  going  through 
the  ministry  of  Moses,  we  come  to  the  Prophets,  and  their 
types  and  shadows,  down  to  John  the  Baptist,  whose 
ministration  in  us  prepares  for  Christ's  entrance  into  our 
souls. 

Fox  soon  learned  that  tlie  sects  could  not  bear  to  be  told 
that  we  can  come  in  this  life  even  to  the  perfection  of 
Adam  before  the  fall,  much  less  that  we  can  grow  up  into 
the  "  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 

Being  now  firmly  established  himself  in  his  deepest 
convictions,  he  felt  himself  able  and  called  upon  to 
proclaim  them  to  others.  He  thus  describes  his  own 
mission :  — 

"  I  was  sent  to  turn  people  from  the  darkness  to  the  light, 
that  they  might  receive  Christ  Jesus.  I  was  to  direct  them  to 
the  Spirit  which  gave  forth  the  Scriptures,  by  which  they  might 
be  led  into  all  truth  and  up  to  Christ  and  God,  as  those  were 
who  gave  them  forth.  I  saw  that  Christ  died  for  all  men,  and 
that  the  grace  of  God  which  brings  salvation  had  appeared  to 
all  men,  and  that  the  manifestation  of  the  spirit  was  given 
to  every  man  to  profit  withal.  These  things  I  saw  not  by  the 
Letter,  though  they  are  written  in  the  Letter,  but  by  the  im- 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE    QUAKERS.  309 

mediate  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  yet  I  had  no  sliglit  esteem 
for  the  Holy  Scriptures,  for  I  was  in  the  same  Spirit  hy  whlcli 
they  were  given  forth.  Many  volumes  could  be  written  of 
what  was  opened  to  me ;  but  all  would  be  too  little  to  set  forth 
the  infinite  wisdom  and  love  of  God  in  prej)aring  and  furnish- 
ing me  for  the  service  to  which  he  had  appointed  me,  letting 
me  see  the  depth  of  Satan  on  the  one  hand,  and  o[)euin<''  on  the 
other  the  divine  mysteries  of  His  Kingdom." 

§  3.  Re  (joes  forth  teaching  the  Doctrine  of  the  Universal 
Inner  Light.  —  CJeorgu  Fux  then  went  out  to  teach  men 
that  there  was  iu  nil  their  hearts,  if  they  would  attend  to 
it,  some  manifestation  of  God,  some  inward  light ;  and  by- 
attending  to  it  they  would  have  more.  He  was  to  bring 
them  from  all  liiiman  churches  and  religious,  worshijis  and 
forms,  to  worship  God  speaking  in  their  own  hearts. 

At  this  time  also  the  Lord  showed  Fox  that  lie  was 
not  to  put  off  his  hat  to  any  person,  and  was  to  "thee 
and  thou "  all  men.  This,  he  says,  created  the  greatest 
possible  rage  everywhere.  He  also  went  about  testifying 
against  common  sins  of  all  sorts,  —  drunkenness,  vain 
pleasures  and  amusements ;  but  the  black  earthly  spirit  of 
the  priests  wounded  his  very  heart,  and  when  he  heard  the 
bell  toll  to  call  people  to  "  the  steeple-house,"  it  struck  at 
his  life.  Thus  at  Nottiui^ham  he  went  into  a  church  on 
Sunday  ;  and  all  the  people  seemed  to  him  like  fallow 
ground,  and  the  priest  like  a  great  lump  of  earth  in  the 
pulpit.  The  priest's  text  was,  "  We  have  a  more  sure 
word  of  prophecy,"  which  he  said  was  the  Scriptures  ;  but 
Fox  stood  u]i  and  cried  :  "  Oh  no  !  it  is  the  Holy  Spirit 
who  gave  the  Scriptures,  for  the  Jews  had  the  Scriptures 
yet  persecuted  Christ ;  and  all  things  are  to  be  tested,  not 
by  the  Scriptures,  but  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  When  he 
spoke  the  officers  took  him.  and  put  him  into  a  dirty 
prison;  but  the  sheriff's  wife  was  moved  to  sympathy,  and 


310  EVENTS    AND    EPOCHS    IN    RELIGICUS    HISTORY. 

the  sheriff  himself  became  a  convert,  and  so  after  a  while 
Fox  was  set  at  liberty. 

Various  adventures  befell  him  in  his  travels.  It  was 
the  year  1649,  in  which  Charles  I.  was  executed.  At  one 
place  he  cured  a  maniac  by  commanding  her  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  to  be  quiet.  At  Mansfield,  for  speaking  in  the 
church,  he  was  cruelly  beaten  and  stoned  out  of  town.  At 
Barrow  he  disputed  with  some  Baptists,  and  asked  them 
whether  their  mountain  of  sin  was  brouglit  low  and  the 
rough  places  in  their  hearts  made  smooth  by  baptism,  as 
John  Baptist  had  commanded ;  and  also  who  baptized 
John  Baptist,  or  Peter  and  John  and  the  other  apostles, 
and  asked  them  to  prove  by  Scripture  that  these  were  ever 
baptized  by  water.  At  Coventry  he  went  into  a  gaol  to 
speak  to  some  violent  fanatics  who  said  that  they  were 
God,  and  inquired  if  they  knew  whether  it  would  rain  to- 
morrow, and  whether  they  thought  they  should  always  be 
in  that  condition.  When  they  answered  that  they  could 
not  tell,  he  said :  "  God  can  tell,  and  so  you  cannot  be 
God."  A  great  power  of  darkness  struck  at  him  while  he 
was  talking  with  them,  and  he  perceived  that  they  were 
Ranters.  At  one  place,  while  he  was  speaking,  a  man  came 
raging  with  a  naked  rapier  in  his  hand,  and  put  its  point 
against  Fox's  side.  Fox  looked  steadfastly  at  him  and 
said :  "  Alack  for  thee,  poor  creature !  what  wilt  thou  do 
with  thy  carnal  weapon  ?  It  is  no  more  to  me  than  a 
straw,"  —  at  w^hich  he  went  away.  At  Britland  he  found 
a  priest  who  saw  beyond  the  common  sort  and  had  spoken 
for  the  truth,  but  he  choked  himself  with  the  parsonage. 
At  Derby,  Fox  was  taken  before  the  magistrates  again  for 
speaking  in  church;  but  to  their  questions  he  said  that 
they  "must  not  dispute  of  God  and  Christ  but  obey  them, 
and  this  power  of  God  thundered  among  them,  and  they 
did  fiy  like  chaff  before  it ; "  but  they  sent  him  to  prison 


GEOUCi:    vox   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  311 

all  the  same.  There  lie  took  to  letter- writinj,^  a  husiness 
he  afterward  iiuich  iollowed.  At  this  time  he  wrote  letters 
to  the  priests,  tlie  magistrates,  to  liarton,  a  justice,  to  Jus- 
tice Bennett,  to  Justice  BarUjn  again,  to  the  Mayor,  to  the 
Court,  to  the  bell-ringers,  and  several  "  Epistles  Catholic  " 
to  the  Friends  everywhere.  This  Justice  Bennett  of 
Derby  v.  as  the  first  that  gave  them  the  name  of  Q  takers, 
because  Fox  bade  liiin  tremble  at  the  word  of  (Jnd.  His 
friends  ofiering  to  be  l>oiind  ibr  him,  he  refused  it,  and  said 
to  the  Justice:  "  Would  you  have  me  bound  to  my  good 
beliavior?  I  am  bound  to  my  good  behavior."  Finding 
he  had  not  cleareil  his  conscience  yet  of  the  priests  or  the 
justices,  he  continued  writing  letters  of  rebuke  and  warn- 
ing to  them  until  they  were  completely  off  his  mind. 
Fox  showed  the  justices  how  corrupt  the  prisoners  made 
each  other  by  talking  together  of  their  evil  deeds ;  and  a 
young  woman  being  condemned  to  death  for  stealing,  he 
wrote  to  the  judge  and  jury  that  it  was  contrary  to  God's 
law  to  put  peoi)le  to  death  for  such  a  crime.  They  wanted 
to  press  him  for  a  soldier,  and  offered  him  money  to  enlist; 
but  Fox  told  them  he  was  bought  off  from  outward  wars, 
and  dead  to  them. 

After  he  had  been  in  prison  a  year  they  let  him  go.  At 
Litchfield  he  went  up  and  down  the  streets  barefoot,  crying 
with  a  loud  voice  :  "  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  of  Litchfield  ; " 
and,  as  he  walked,  the  streets  seemed  to  him  to  be  run- 
nini;  with  blood.  He  did  not  himself  understand  till 
afterward  what  this  meant,  for  Litchfield  was  no  worse 
than  other  cities.  At  last  he  thought  it  was  becau.se  of 
martyrs  formerly  slain  there,  whose  memorial  he  was  to 
raise.  At  some  ])laces  he  met  with  i)eople  who  were 
"  notionists,"  and  others  who  were  very  tender  and  loving. 
At  York  he  told  the  congregntion  and  minister  that  they 
lived  in  W4)rds,  but  that   the  Lord  looked  for  fruit  from 


312         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

them.  At  Cleveland  he  found  Quakers  who  had  turned 
Eanters,  and  he  told  them  that  they  did  not  "  wait  upon 
God  to  feel  his  power  to  gather  their  minds  inward,  but 
had  spoken  themselves  dry."  To  one  Ranter  he  said, 
"Eepent,  thou  beast,"  —  for  looking  at  him  he  saw  the 
nature  of  a  beast  distinctly  in  him.  Some  priests  were 
convinced  by  him ;  others  fled  before  him,  for  his  words 
shook  the  earthly  and  airy  spirit  in  which  they  wor- 
shipped, so  that  it  was  a  dreadful  thing  to  them  when  it 
was  told  them,  "  The  man  in  leather  breeches  has  come." 
He  wished  to  speak  in  steeple-houses,  and  a  concern  came 
upon  his  mind  about  the  pulpits  the  priests  lolled  in. 
Some  of  the  ministers  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  invited 
him  to  speak  to  the  congregations.  One  old  priest  went 
with  Fox  everywhere,  and  when  the  people  offered  ]?im  his 
tithes  refused  to  take  them. 

§  4.  His  Siifferings  and  Persecutions.  —  In  many  places 
he  was  beaten  and  abused  by  the  riotous  multitude.  Once 
a  mason  struck  his  arm  with  a  rule,  and  lamed  it  so  that 
he  could  not  move  it ;  but  looking  at  it  in  the  love  of  God, 
the  power  of  God  sprang  through  his  hand  and  arm  so 
that  he  recovered  its  strength  again.  Again,  forty  men 
attacked  him  with  clubs  and  fishing-poles  and  tried  to 
push  him  into  the  sea,  and  knocked  him  down  and  stunned 
him.  When  he  came  to  himself  he  found  a  woman  t!irow- 
ing  stones  at  his  liead,  and  her  husband  lying  over  him  to 
keep  them  off.  In  a  certain  village  he  cast  his  eyes  upon 
a  woman,  and  saw  that  slie  liad  an  unclean  spirit  and  told 
her  so,  at  which  the  people  marvelled,  for  it  was  well 
known  that  she  was  a  wicked  woman.  At  another  time 
he  cast  his  eye  upon  a  woman  who  stood  at  a  distance, 
and  said,  "  Tiiou  hast  been  a  harlot ! "  —  for  he  perfectly 
saw  her  condition  and  life,  —  to  wliich  she  answered, 
"  Many  can  tell  me  of  my  outward  sins,  but  none  my 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  313 

inward  sins."  Fox  told  her  that  her  heart  was  not  riglit 
toward  God,  and  lioiu  the  inward  sin  came  the  outward. 
She  afterwards  was  converted  and  became  a  Friend.  A 
Baptist  deacon  interruptint;  liim,  Fox  fixed  his  eyes  upon 
him  and  spoke  sharply  to  him  in  the  power  of  the  Lord, 
till  he  cried  :  "  Do  not  pierce  me  so  with  thine  eyes,  — 
keep  thine  eyes  olf  me."  At  Drayton,  his  native  place,  he 
disi)uted  publicly  with  eight  priests,  and  so  confounded 
them  that  his  father,  though  a  follower  of  their  church, 
struck  his  cane  upon  the  ground  ami  said  :  "  Truly  !  I  see 
if  one  will  but  stand  by  the  Truth  it  will  bear  him  out." 
In  1G54  Fox  was  taken  by  order  of  Cromwell  to  London, 
and,  as  many  plots  were  in  agitation  against  the  Protector, 
Cromwell  required  Fox  to  promise  not  to  take  up  a  carnal 
sword  against  him  or  his  government,  which  Fox  readily 
agreed  to.  He  had  a  personal  interview  with  Cromwell, 
which  he  thus  describes  :  — 

"  When  I  came  in  I  was  moved  to  say,  '  Peace  be  in  this 
house,'  and  I  exhorted  him  to  keep  in  the  fear  of  God  that  he 
might  receive  wisdom  from  him.  I  had  great  discourse  with 
him  about  religion,  wherein  he  carried  himself  very  moderately  ; 
but  he  said  that  we  quarrelled  with  the  priests,  whom  he  called 
ministers.  I  told  him  tliat  I  did  not  quarrel  with  them,  — 
they  quarrelled  with  me ;  but  I  showed  him  that  the  Prophets 
and  Christ  declared  against  such  teachers  and  8hei)herds.  As  I 
spoke,  he  several  times  said  tl^.at  it  was  very  good,  —  it  was 
the  truth.  Many  more  words  I  had  with  him  ;  but  people 
coming  in,  I  drew  a  little  back.  As  I  was  turning  he  catched 
me  by  the  hand,  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  said  :  *  Come  again 
to  my  house,  for  if  thou  and  I  were  but  an  hour  of  a  day  to- 
gether, we  should  be  nearer  one  to  the  other.' " 

So  Fox  was  set  at  liberty.  They  brought  him  dinner, 
but  he  refused  it,  telling  them  to  say  to  Cromwell  that  he 
would  "not  eat  of  his  bread;"   on  which  Cromwell  was 


31J:  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

reported  to  have  replied :  "  Now  I  see  there  is  a  people 
risen  whom  I  cannot  win  either  with  gifts,  offices,  honors, 
or  places  ;  but  all  other  sects  and  people  I  can."  Not- 
withstanding all  this,  Fox  was  afterward  imprisoned  by 
order  of  the  Chief  Justice  upon  a  charge  of  vagrancy,  and 
placed  in  one  of  those  abominable  dungeons  so  common  in 
England  down  to  the  time  of  John  Howard.  The  jailer, 
who  had  been  a  thief,  treated  Fox  and  his  companions 
with  unnecessary  brutality.  One  of  the  Friends  went  to 
CromwxU  and  offered  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  place  of  Fox. 
After  a  while  he  was  released. 

So  for  many  years  Fox  continued  his  travels.  He  went 
through  England,  Wales,  and  Scotland.  He  persuaded 
some  persons  who  were  to  set  up  a  college  to  make  min- 
isters of  Christ,  not  to  do  so,  telling  them  that  "  to  teach 
men  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,"  was  not  the  way  "  to  make 
them  ministers  of  Christ,  for  the  languages  began  at 
Babel."  He  had  also  an  argument  with  a  Jesuit.  The 
Jesuit  tried  to  prove  Transubstantiation  by  the  words 
"  This  is  my  body."  Fox  replied ':  "  Christ  says  he  is  a 
Vine  and  a  Door,  and  he  is  called  a  Eock.  Is  Christ,  then, 
an  outward  Vine  or  Door  or  Eock?"  The  Jesuit  answered, 
"  Those  words  are  to  be  spiritually  interpreted."  "  So," 
said  Fox,  "  are  these,  —  '  This  is  my  body.'  "  Then  Fox 
proposed  that  a  bottle  of  wine  and  a  loaf  of  bread  should 
be  brought  and  divided  into  two  parts ;  one  part  should  be 
consecrated  by  the  Eomish  priest,  and  all  be  shut  up  safely, 
to  see  if  the  consecrated  bread  would  not  mould  and  the 
consecrated  wine  sour  as  soon  as  the  other ;  for  he  argued 
that  Christ's  body  w^as  immortal  and  could  not  decay.  Fox 
wrote  to  Cromwell,  exhorting  him  to  faithfulness ;  and  also 
in  the  following  manner  to  Mrs.  Claypole,  Cromwell's  favor- 
ite daughter,  who  was  sick  at  this  time,  and  so  troubled  in 
mind  that  none  could  administer  any  relief  to  her :  — 


GEORGE   FOX    AND   THE   QUAKERS.  315 

"Friend,  —  lie  still  uikI  cool  in  thy  own  iiiiiid  uud  spirit, 
from  thy  own  thoughts,  and  thou  tlien  wilt  feel  the  principle  of 
God,  to  turn  thy  mind  to  tlie  Lord  (jod  from  whom  life  comes, 
whereby  thou  nr.iycst  receive  his  strength  and  power  to  allay 
all  storms.  This  it  is  which  works  uj)  into  patience,  innoceuc}', 
soberness,  quietness,  up  to  (iod  with  his  power." 

When  this  vvius  read  to  licr,  and  nuicli  more  of  this  sort, 
she  said  that  it  "  staid  her  mind  lur  the  present."  After 
Cromwell's  death  and  the  liestoration  of  Charles  II.,  Fox 
wrote  to  the  latter  interceding  for  the  Friends  in  prison. 
This  document  asserts  that  up  to  that  time  3173  F'riends 
had  been  im[)risoned  in  the  name  of  the  Common  wealth, 
of  whom  73  were  still  in  prison  ;  that  during  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Commonwealth  and  the  Crom wells,  32  Friends 
had  died  in  prison ;  and  that  since  Charles's  accession,  in 
two  years,  30G8  F'riends  had  been  imprisoned,  chiefly  for 
refusing  from  conscientious  motives  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance.  This  petition  had  little  eHect.  Fox  himself 
was  imprisoned  this  same  year  at  Leicester,  where  he 
preached  to  the  j)risoners.  The  Quakers  were  at  this  time 
much  persecuted  for  frequenting  religious  meetings,  refus- 
ing the  oaths,  and  not  paying  tithes. 

At  Lancaster  also,  in  1004,  Fox  was  tried  and  ini- 
prisoned  for  refusing  the  oath.  He  showed  great  pres- 
ence of  mind  and  njadiness  at  his  trial.  He  was  indicted 
for  having  refused  to  take  an  oath,  and  found  guilty  ; 
but  when  the  Judge  asked  him  what  he  had  to  say  wliy 
sentence  should  not  be  passed  u)»on  him,  he  pointed  out 
several  errors  in  the  indictment.  He  had  not  been  named 
as  a  subject ;  the  indictment  stated  that  the  oath  had  been 
tendered  to  him  at  the  sessions  on  tlie  lltli  of  January, 
but  the  almanac  showed  tliat  the  sessions  did  not  co'.n- 
mence  till  the  12th  of  January;  the  indictment  called  it 
the  loth  year  of  the  King,  when  it  was  in  fact  the  10th, 


316         EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

dating  from  the  death  of  Charles  I.  So  the  Judge  was 
obliged  to  declare  that  he  was  at  liberty ;  but  said,  "  I  can 
put  the  oath  to  any  man  here,  and  I  will  tender  it  to  you 
again."  Fox  said,  "  You  had  examplas  enough  yesterday 
of  false  swearing  in  the  justices  and  jury  who  swore  that 
the  errors  of  the  indictment  were  truths."  The  Judge 
asked,  "  Will  you  take  the  oath  ? "  Fox  said,  "  Do  me 
justice  for  my  false  imprisonment;  I  ought  to  be  set  at 
liberty."  The  Judge  rejoined :  "  You  are  at  liberty,  but 
I  put  the  oath  to  you  again.  Give  him  the  book ! "  Fox 
says : — 

"  Then  the  power  of  darkness  rose  up  in  them  like  a  mountain, 
and  the  clerk  gave  me  the  book.  I  said,  '  1  see  this  is  a  Bible, 
and  I  am  glad  of  it ; '  so  I  looked  the  Judge  in  the  face,  and 
the  witness  of  God  started  up  in  him  and  made  him  blush 
when  he  looked  at  me  again ;  but  he  hardened  himself  and 
causedthe  oath  to  be  read  to  me.  I  said,  '  Ye  have  given  me 
here  a  Book  to  kiss  and  to  swear  on,  and  this  Book  says,  Kiss  the 
Son,  and  the  Sou  says.  Swear  not  at  all  I  I  say  as  the  Book 
says ;  yet  ye  imprison  me.  Why  do  ye  not  imprison  the  Book 
for  saying  so  1  How  comes  it  that  the  Book  is  at  liberty  among 
you  which  bids  me  not  to  swear,  and  yet  ye  imprison  me  for 
doing  as  the  Book  bids  me  T  " 

Fox  was  kei)t  in  Lancaster  prison  till  the  next  assizes ; 
then  found  guilty  and  sent  to  Scarborough  Castle,  where 
he  suffered  much  for  a  year.  A  Dr.  Witty  came  to  argue 
with  him,  and  asserted  that  Christ  had  not  enliohtened  all 

O 

men  that  came  into  the  world,  nor  died  for  all  men. 

"Whom  has  he  not  enlightened  and  died  for?"  said  Fox. 
"  Idolaters  and  wicked  men."  —  "  Are  not  idolaters  and 
wicked  men  sinners  ?  "  Witty  said,  "  Yes."  "  And  did 
not  Christ  die  fur  sinners?  Did  he  not  call  sinners  to 
repentance  ? " 

In  1671  Fox  sailed  for  America.    On  tlie  way  they  were 


GEORGE   FOX    AND   THE   QUAKERS.  317 

chased  by  a  pirate,  but  it  was  revealed  to  Fox  that  the 
Lord  would  put  his  power  between  them.  They  stopi)ed  at 
Barbadoes  where  he  exhorted  the  Friends  to  treat  tlie  negroes 
kindly  and  set  theni  free  after  some  years'  service,  and  to 
train  them  up  meantime  in  the  fear  of  God.  From  thence 
he  sailed  to  Jamaica  and  then  to  Maryland.  He  went  by 
land  to  New  England,  holding  meetings  by  the  way.  He 
was  particularly  pleased  with  the  state  of  things  in  lihode 
Island.  After  staying  tliere  some  time,  he  travelled  back 
thi'ough  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Virginia,  the 
Carolinas,  and  in  1673  returned  to  England.  After  this 
he  was  imprisoned  at  Worcester,  but  soon  released,  and  he 
then  paid  a  visit  to  Holland.  In  1684  he  visited  the  Con- 
tinent a  second  time  ;  and  after  his  return,  being  worn  with 
labors  and  sufferings,  he  lived  more  retired,  though  still 
active  till  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1690,  in  the  sixty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  preached  in  meeting  in  London 
just  before  his  death.  During  his  sickness  he  showed  great 
contentment  and  resignation,  saying,  "x\ll  is  well;  the  seed 
of  God  reigns  over  all."  Four  or  five  hours  before  his 
death  he  said,  "  The  power  of  God  is  over  all  sickness  and 
death." 

Fox  was  tall  and  large  in  stature,  with  a  powerful  voice, 
—  "a  man,"  says  Sewall,  "of  a  deep  understanding  and  a 
discerning  spirit ;  and  though  his  words  were  not  always 
linked  together  by  a  neat  grammatical  connection,  and 
that  his  speech  seemed  a1)ru])t,  with  a  kind  of  a  gap,  yet 
he  expressed  himself  intelligently." 

§5.  Character  of  Fox.  Source  of  his  Influence.  —  George 
Fox,  judged  by  his  writings,  was  a  man  of  poor  intellect, — 
narrow,  meagre,  without  the  least  touch  of  fancy  or  imagi- 
nation. It  was  by  the  depth  and  concentration  of  his 
mind,  not  by  any  mental  aflluence,  that  he  accomplished 
so    much.      His   soul    was   absorbed    in    those   few  ideas 


318  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

which  seemed  to  him  the  sum  of  this  life  and  substance  of 
the  next.  He  walked  through  the  world  like  a  man  in  a 
dream,  seeing  little  that  was  going  on  around  him,  and 
knowing  only  his  own  thoughts.  He  lived  in  the  most 
extraordinary  period  of  British  history,  a  time  full  of  the 
greatest  events ;  but  it  does  not  appear  from  his  volumi- 
nous writings  that  he  was  aware  of  this.  He  saw,  or  might 
have  seen,  the  rise,  triumph,  defeat,  and  reappearance 
of  British  Constitutional  Liberty ;  the  tyrannical  acts  of 
Charles  I. ;  the  resistance  of  Hampden  ;  the  English  Eevo- 
lution;  the  battles  of  Marston  Moor  and  Naseby;  the  Long 
Parliament;  the  protectorates  of  Cromwell  and  his  son; 
the  Eestoration  of  Charles  II. ;  the  reign  of  James  11. ;  and 
the  Ee volution  of  10 88.  All  occurred  under  his  eyes,  and 
he  does  not  seeui  to  have  noticed  any  of  them.  He  was  a 
contemporary  of  Milton,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Tillotson,  Locke, 
Newton,  Leibnitz,  but  you  would  never  know  from  his  writ- 
inu;s  that  such  men  had  existed.  With  their  work  he  had 
nothing  to  do,  but  his  own  work  he  did  nobl}^  In  an  age 
of  speculative  religion,  of  opinion  and  profession,  he  taught 
the  need  of  a  profound  personal  acquaintance  with  God  as 
the  all  in  all.  He  taught  that  all  can  have  this  light,  that 
it  comes  to  all,  and  can  be  seen  by  all  if  they  do  not  suffer 
their  attention  to  be  distracted  by  outward  things.  From 
this  simple  idea  of  the  inward  light  he  deduced  all  the  other 
doctrines  which  Barclay  and  Penn  afterwards  elaborated 
into  the  complete  system  of  Quakerism.  It  is  noticeable 
in  reading  the  life  of  Fox  that  so  lofty  a  system  has  orig- 
inated in  so  small  a  mind.  Bancroft  the  historian  con- 
siders the  system  of  Fox  to  contain  the  highest  intel- 
lectual philosophy,  equivalent  to  tlie  doctrines  of  Plato 
and  Descartes :  — 

"  Quakerism  rests  on  the  reality  of  the  inner  light ;  and  its 
method  of  inquiry  is  absohite  freedom  apphed  to  consciousness. 


GEORGE   FOX  AND   THE   QUAKKKS.  319 

So  it  coincided  with  that  of  Descartes  and  his  disciples;  but 
Descartes  phniged  immediately  into  the  confusion  of  hypothesis, 
driftinfx  to  sea  to  he  wrecked  amon<jc  the  hnrren  waves  of  onto- 
logical  specidation  ;  and  even  Leihnitz,  coiijident  in  his  genius 
and  his  learning,  lost  his  way  among  the  monads  of  creation, 
and  the  pre-established  harmonies  of  this  best  of  all  possible 
worlds.  But  the  illiterate  Quaker  adhered  strictly  to  his 
method.  Like  the  timid  navigators  of  old  who  carefully  kept 
near  the  shore,  he  never  ventured  to  sea  except  witii  the  cer- 
tain guidance  of  the  cynosure  in  his  heart.  He  set  no  value  on 
learning.  Tradition  cannot  enjoin  a  ceremony,  much  less  es- 
tablish a  doctrine ;  historical  faith  is  as  the  old  heavens  that 
are  to  be  w'rapt  up  as  a  scroll." 

§  6.  Doctrines  of  Quakerism  as  developed  hj  Barclay  and 
Penn.  —  Religion  usually  begins  as  a  life  in  the  soul,  and 
afterwards  develops  into  a  theology.  Life  first;  thought 
afterward.  Light  does  not  produce  life,  but  life  is  the  light 
of  men.  Quakerism  was  no  exception  to  this  rule.  It  began 
in  a  profound  living  sense  of  the  immediate  presence  of  God 
in  the  soul.  Fox  struggled  at  first  alone  ;  alone  he  went 
through  the  dark  valley  of  the  shadow  of  spiritual  death. 
Out  of  those  depths  of  despair  he  cried  to  God  ;  alone  with 
God,  he  found  light  and  peace  in  the  sense  of  the  divine 
nearness,  not  to  his  soul  alone,  but  to  all  souls.  That 
was  the  beginning  of  Quakerism.  The  next  step  was  his 
longing  to  publish  this  good  news,  and  out  of  the  fulness 
of  his  heart  his  mouth  began  to  speak.  Then  came  the 
necessity  of  thinking  out  what  was  to  be  said.  Life  began 
to  become  light,  and  doctrine  came.  This  was  the  second 
step.  As  preachers  multiplied  and  as  this  new  doctrine 
was  opposed,  it  was  necessary  to  state  it  with  some  pre- 
cision, so  as  to  defend  it  against  antagonists  and  to  give 
some  unity  to  its  teaching.  This  was  theology,  and  the 
Quaker  theologians  arrived  on   the  scene.      The  earliest 


320  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

and  best  were  William  Penn  and  Robert  Barclay.  The 
tirst  wrote  tracts  against  the  then  commonly  received 
views  about  Depravity,  the  Atonement,  and  the  Trinity ; 
which  tracts  were  published  under  the  titles,  "  The  Sandy 
Foundation  Shaken  "  and  "  No  Cross,  no  Crown."  Robert 
Barclay  was  a  systematic  theologian,  and  his  work,  "  Bar- 
clay's Apology,"  has  been  the  text-book  and  manual  of  the 
Quakers  ever  since. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Society  of  the  Friends  may  be 
briefly  summed  up  thus  :  — 

1.  To  know  God  is  the  only  salvation,  and  God  can  only  be 
known  by  his  revelation  of  himself  by  his  Spirit  in  the  heart. 
This  revelation  in  the  heart  is  its  own  evidence.  It  is  in 
harmony  with  reason  and  Scripture,  but  not  to  be  tested  by 
either. 

2.  The  Scriptures  are  neither  the  source  of  divine  knowledge, 
nor  an  adequate  primary  rule  of  faith  or  practice  ;  but  as  a 
secondary  rule,  subordinate  to  the  Spirit,  they  are  to  be  revered 
and  used. 

3.  The  salvation  of  Christ  is  not  only  meant  for  all  but  act- 
ually comes  to  all.  He  is  the  true  light  which  lightens  every 
man  who  cometh  into  the  world,  not  a  light  outwardly,  but 
within  the  soul. 

4.  This  light  is  darkened  by  sin  ;  but  by  living  in  the  quiet, 
and  in  a  desire  to  know  God's  truth  and  do  it,  it  becomes 
visible  to  the  soul  as  teacher  and  guide.  Then  the  heart  is 
renewed,  and  does  not  obey  evil  but  good,  and  grows  up  into 
perfect  love. 

5.  The  essence  of  worship,  preaching,  and  sacraments,  con- 
sists in  their  inward  spirit ;  and  they  are  rightly  performed 
when  we  are  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  and  not  by  our  own  will 
and  choice. 

This  doctrine  of  an  inward  light  in  all  men  has  been 
held  by  the  mystics  generally,  and  has  been  a  useful  pro- 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  321 

test  against  narrow  dogmatism,  sectarianism,  and  church- 
ism.  It  gives  dignity  to  the  human  soul ;  breaking  down 
the  distinctions  of  caste,  rank,  sect,  piiestliood,  sex, —  in 
tlie  presence  of  Christ.  It  tends  to  Christian  lil)erty, 
equality,  and  brotherhood.  It  is  Christianity  according  to 
the  spirit,  ncjt  the  letter. 

Mr.  Bancroft  finds  the  ideas  of  the  Quakers  in  "  the  pro- 
found eloquence  of  Ilousseau,"  "  the  masculine  ])liih)Sopliy 
of  Kant,"  and  "  the  poetry  of  Schiller,  Coleridge,  Lamartine, 
and  Wordswortli." 

§  7.  Snhscqucnt  History.  Follmvcrs  of  Fox.  Testimony 
of  Mochler,  Charles  Lamb,  Frederiek  Maurice,  and  Whit- 
ticr.  —  The  convictions  of  George  Fox  spread  rapidly, 
and  raised  a  number  of  preachers  who  were  as  earnest 
and  l)old  as  their  master.  Francis  Howgill,  educated  as 
an  Independent  preacher,  renounced  Calvinism,  accepted 
the  odium  of  the  new  doctrine,  and,  refusing  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  liad  l)is  goods  confiscated,  and 
was  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life.  lie  died  in 
prison. 

Edward  Burroughs  was  one  of  the  boldest  preachers  of 
the  Inner  Light.  He  preached  in  the  streets  and  fields  to 
low  and  high.  He  was  "  a  breaker  of  stony  hearts."  "  To 
thunder  against  sin  was  his  talent,  one  of  the  valiants 
whose  sword  never  was  turned  back  in  the  day  of  battle," 
says  Sewall.  He  wrote  letters  to  Cromwell,  disputed  with 
'Jesuits,  preached  to  monks  and  soldiers,  and  died  in  New- 
gate prison. 

Myles  Halhead  was  beaten  at  Kendal,  left  for  dead  at 
Shipton,  sorely  bruised  at  Doncaster. 

Barbara  Blangdon  testified  in  church,  and  was  impris- 
oned and  whij)ped  for  interrupting  the  service,  but  sang 
and  tlianked  God  during  her  sufferings.  Some  of  the 
Friends  went  to  liome  to  convert  the  Pope  ;  otliers  to  Con- 

21 


322  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

stantinople  to  convert  the  Sultan.  No  place  could  escape 
their  visits.  They  considered  themselves  missionaries  to 
the  human  race.  They  visited  the  Indians  in  their  cabins 
and  lived  with  them,  as  the  Jesuits  did  in  Canada ;  "  and," 
said  they,  "  the  poor  savage  people  believed  in  God  with- 
out metaphysics."  They  bought  a  territory  in  West  New 
Jersey  and  settled  it,  and  then  William  Penn  obtained 
from  Charles  IT.  the  territory  of  Pennsylvania,  instead  of  a 
claim  on  the  English  government  for  £16,000,  bequeathed 
to  Penn  by  his  father,  the  Admiral.  Charles  gave  him  a 
charter,  extending  over  three  degrees  of  latitude  and  five 
of  lon2;itude. 

Penn  was  educated  at  Oxford,  had  travelled,  and  then 
was  converted  to  the  Quaker  doctrine.  "  William,"  said 
his  father,  "  has  become  a  Quaker,  or  some  such  melan- 
choly thing,"  —  and  turned  him  out  of  his  house.  He  was 
threatened  with  imprisonment  for  life  unless  he  would 
recant.  "  My  prison,"  said  he,  "  shall  be  my  grave."  He 
stayed  in  the  Tower  nine  months.  Then  his  father 
relented,  and  the  Duke  of  York,  his  father's  friend,  ob- 
tained his  release.  A  year  after  he  was  arrested  again, 
for  speaking  at  a  Quaker  meeting.  In  spite  of  the  orders 
of  the  judge,  the  jury  found  him  "Not  guilty."  The 
jury  were  fined  forty  marks  each,  and  Penn  was  sent  to 
prison  again ;  but  his  father  paid  his  fine,  and  said  when 
dying  :  "  Son  William,  —  if  you  and  your  Friends  keep 
to  your  plain  way  of  speaking,  you  will  make  an  end  of 
the  priests." 

This  prophecy  has  not  been  fulfilled.  Penn's  colony 
flourished.  He  treated  the  Indians  as  brothers,  and  lived 
at  peace  with  them.  The  Quakers  grew  rich,  for  the  meek 
inherit  tlie  earth  in  the  long  run ;  but  the  Society  of 
Friends  has  remained  small;  it  does  not  grow.  It  lias  had 
a  noble  record.     It  has  set  an  example  of  many  of  the  best 


GEORGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  323 

Christian  virtues,  —  honesty,  peace,  toleration,  charity.  It 
has  encoura<,'ed  education,  taken  care  of  its  poor,  avoided 
extravagance  in  dress  and  other  expenses.  It  has  prac- 
tised and  taught  simplicity  of  manners,  equality  and  hu- 
man brotherhood,  freedom  for  all.  It  has  dune  better  still, 
—  it  has  produced  some  of  the  best  men  and  women.  The 
common  life  of  the  Quaker  homes  is  full  of  sweetness  and 
strength  ;  and  if  we  ask  for  anytliing  more  distinguished, 
such  names  as  Whittier  and  Lucretia  Motte  immediately 
suggest  themselves. 

Ijut  the  Society  of  Friends  has  not  grown  as  a  sect,  and 
does  not  grow,  and  so  seems  to  lack  one  element  of  life. 
It  is  also  wanting  in  elasticity,  receptivity,  and  a  desire 
for  progress.  Protesting  in  its  origin  against  all  forms,  it 
has  been  one  of  the  most  formal  of  societies.  Perhaps  the 
explanation  is  that  it  was  not  meant  to  be  a  church  or 
sect,  but  a  leaven  to  influence  other  sects.  In  that  sense 
its  influence  has  been  great  and  beneficial. 

Moehler,  the  Catholic,  says  of  the  Quakers  :  — 

"Among  the  Quakers  we  discover  an  interior  piety  which, 
when  we  can  succeed  in  forgetting  now  and  then  the  utter  per- 
verscness  of  the  whole  system,  marvellously  cheers  and  rcfreslies, 
and  even  at  times  deeply  moves  the  mind.  Moreover,  we  find 
among  them  a  conscientious  and  firm  prosecution  of  the  point 
of  view  which  they  have  once  adopted  ;  a  consistency  extremely 
pleasing  and  cheering,  which  flinches  from  no  consequences. 
All  parts  of  the  system  stand  in  the  most  harmonious  pro- 
portion with  each  other,  forming  a  fine  connected  whole  whose 
architectural  perfection  leaves  little  to  be  desired.  For  their 
earnest  striving  after  an  interior  religion  of  heart  and  life  ; 
their  fearless  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  the  world,  even  when 
that  opposition  is  petty  and  pedantic  ;  their  longing  after  the 
true  celestial  nourishment  and  the  inward  miction  by  the 
Divine  Spirit ;  their  consciousness  that  in  Cln'ist  is  imparted 


324  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS    IN    RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

a  power  great  enough  not  only  to  solace  and  tranquillize  man 
but  truly  to  deliver  him  from  all  sin,  —  all  this  fills  us  with 
sentiments  of  sincerest  respect." 

Let  me  quote  also  a  testimony  from  Charles  Lamb,  from 
his  fine  essay  on  the  Quaker  s  Meeting :  — 

"  Nothing  plotting,  naught  caballing,  unmischievous  synod  ! 
Convocation  without  intrigue,  parliament  without  debate  ! 
What  a  lesson  dost  thou  read  to  council  and  consistory  !  If 
my  pen  treat  of  you  lightly,  as  haply  it  may  wander,  yet  my 
spirit  hath  gravely  felt  the  wisdom  of  your  custom,  when, 
sitting  among  you  in  deepest  peace,  which  some  out  welling 
tears  would  rather  confirm  than  disturb,  I  have  reverted  to 
the  times  of  your  beginnings.  I  have  seen  the  reeling  sea- 
ruffian  who  had  wandered  into  your  receptacle  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  disturbing  your  quiet,  from  the  very  spirit  of  the 
place  receive  in  a  moment  a  new  heart,  and  presently  sit  among 
you  as  a  lamb  amid  lambs.  Often  the  meeting  is  broken  up 
without  a  word  having  been  spoken.  But  you  have  been  fed. 
You  go  away  with  a  sermon  not  made  with  hands.  You  have 
been  where  the  tongue,  that  fiercest  and  savagest  of  all  wild 
creatures,  has  strangely  lain  tied  up  and  captive.  You  have 
been  bathed  with  stillness.  0,  when  the  spirit  is  sore  fretted, 
even  tired  to  sickness  of  the  j  anglings  and  nonsense-noises  of 
the  world,  what  a  balm  and  solace  it  is  to  go  and  seat  yourself 
for  a  quiet  half-hour  upon  some  undisputed  corner  of  a  bench 
among  the  gentle  Quakers." 

Frederick  Maurice  also  accepts  the  positive  doctrines 
of  the  Quakers,  and  thinks  it  the  Catholic  doctrine  of 
the  Church  that  the  Logos,  or  Word  which  was  in  Christ, 
speaks  to  and  lightens  every  human  soul.  He  denies  that 
this  doctrine  is  mystical  or  unscriptural,  and  thinks  it  his- 
torically verified  in  what  we  read  of  Socrates  and  other 
eminent   men   of    antiquity.     He  thinks   indeed  that   the 


GEOUGE   FOX   AND   THE   QUAKERS.  325 

experiment  of  Quakerism  lias  failfd,  but  because  of  its 
negative  peculiarities  rather  than  of  its  positive  qualities. 

I^t  me  close  by  an  extract  from  Whittier's  poem  on  the 
Quaker  Meeting :  — 

"  AikI  so  I  find  it  well  to  come 
For  dt't'pur  retft  to  tlii.s  still  room, 
For  here  the  habit  of  the  8oul 
Feels  less  the  outer  world's  control  ; 
The  strength  of  mutual  purpose  pleads 
More  earnestly  our  common  needs  ; 
And  from  the  silence  multiplied 
By  these  still  forms  on  either  side, 
The  world  that  time  and  sense  have  known 
Falls  off  and  leaves  us  God  alone. 
So  to  the  calmly  gathered  thought 
The  innermost  of  truth  is  taught, 
The  mystery,  dimly  understood. 
That  love  of  God  is  love  of  good  ; 
That  Book  and  Church  and  Day  are  given 
For  man,  not  Gtxl,  —  for  earth  not  heaven  ; 
The  blessed  means  to  holiest  ends. 
Not  masters,  but  benignant  friends  ; 
That  the  dear  Christ  dwells  not  afar, 
The  King  of  some  remoter  star, 
Listening,  at  times,  with  flattered  ear 
To  homage  wrung  from  selfish  fear, 
But  here,  amidst  the  poor  and  blind. 
The  bound  and  suffering  of  our  kind  ; 
In  works  we  do,  in  prayers  we  pray, 
Life  of  our  life,  he  lives  to-day." 


326         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTOKY. 


XI. 

THE  HUGUENOTS. 

§  1.  Protestantism  in  France  until  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.  —  The  word  Huguenot  is  of  obscure 
origin.  Probably,  like  many  other  famous  names,  it  was 
first  applied  in  derision  and  as  a  nickname.  Some  think 
it  derived  from  hvguon,  a  provincial  word  meaning  that 
they  held  their  services  in  the  night-time.  Others  that 
it  came  from  the  German  Eidgenossen,  that  is  "  Confeder- 
ates." 

Whatever  the  origin  of  the  name,  the  Huguenots  are 
the  French  Protestants.  France  did  not  wait  for  Luther 
before  producing  Protestants.  The  chief  of  these  Eefor- 
mers  before  the  Eeforniation  were  the  Waldenses,  tlie 
Albigenses,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  in  Dauphiny, 
adjoining  Piedmont. 

The  Waldenses  were  the  followers  of  Peter  Waldo,  a 
rich  and  generous  merchant  of  Lyons  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. He  was  a  very  religious  man,  and  had  some  of  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  translated  for  his  use.  He 
gave  his  goods  to  the  poor  and  went  about  preaching  re- 
pentance. His  followers  were  called  the  Poor  People  of 
Lyons.  Tliey  went  to  Eome  to  ask  permission  to  preach, 
though  laymen ;  but  their  request  was  refused  without  cere- 
mony. Then  they  went  further,  and  became  hostile  to  the 
Church  which  was  hostile  to  them.    They  renounced  their 


THE   HUGUTi:NOTS.  327 

faith  in  the  priest,  saying  that  the  sanctity  of  a  priest  was 
not  in  his  profession  but  in  his  life,  and  that  a  good  layman 
was  a  true  priest,  and  might  not  only  preach  but  administer 
tlie  ordinances.  Even  women,  they  declared,  might  officiate 
as  ministers.  The  services  of  a  wicked  priest  were  of  no 
avail.  They  denied  tlie  Churcli  of  Rome  to  be  the  true 
Churcli;  condemned  popes  and  prelates  for  engaging  in 
war ;  rejected  all  tlie  sacraments  except  Baptism  and  the 
Supper;  and  also  rejected  prayers  for  the  dead,  purgatory, 
indulgences,  and  transubstantiation.  The  real  transubstan- 
tiation,  said  they,  is  not  in  the  wafer  but  in  the  soul  of  the 
believer.  They  also  denied  the  legality  of  capital  puni.sh- 
ments.  Their  strength  consisted  in  their  having  the  Scrip- 
tures in  their  own  language.  Another  book  they  had, 
called  "  The  Nol)le  Lesson,"  which  is  a  simple  narrative 
of  Bible  facts,  joined  with  the  pure  morality  of  the  Gos- 
pel. 

Persecution  was  the  natural  result  of  these  heresies. 
Waldo  and  his  followers  were  scattered,  and  went  every- 
where preaching  the  Word.  He  went  into  Dauphiny,  a 
mountainous  region  in  the  Southeast  of  France,  and  also 
into  Picardy.  His  followers  were  singularly  pure  and 
devout  men.  They  were  great  students  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures.  They  spread  through 
Germany,  Bohemia,  Switzerland,  and  other  countries,  and 
tilled  the  southern  part  of  France  with  their  followers. 
Tlu'y  suffered  persecution  with  the  Albigenses  and  were 
often  confounded  with  them  ;  yet  they  multiplied  to  such 
an  extent  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  Beformation  there 
were  said  to  be  eight  hundred  thousand  Waldenses  in 
Europe. 

^lany  of  these  people  inhabited  the  valleys  of  the  Alps 
on  the  French  and  Italian  sides.  They  had  maintained 
inr  centuries  a  pure  and  simjde  form  ol"  (Miristianily.     From 


323  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

time  to  time  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
Inquisitors  were  sent  among  them  with  soldiers.  They 
were  seized  and  put  to  death  as  heretics,  they  were  mur- 
dered by  thousands  by  order  of  the  popes,  and  some  of  the 
valleys  were  wholly  depopulated ;  but  nothing  could  con- 
vert them  to  the  doctrines  of  Eome.  The  survivors  fled 
with  their  women  and  children  to  the  bare  bleak  summits 
of  the  mountains,  and  returned  to  their  valleys  after  their 
persecutors  had  gone.  During  five  centuries  of  persecu- 
tion they  maintained  their  simple  faith.  They  have  out- 
lived the  p(.wer  which  hung,  burned,  and  starved  them, 
and  to-dny  they  have  cliurches  and  public  worship  in 
Turin,  Florence,  and  other  cities  of  Italy.  The  French 
Ee volution,  which  put  an  end  to  so  many  other  evils,  put 
an  end  also  to  the  persecution  of  the  French  Protestants. 

Passing  by  such  well  known  events  as  the  Bartholomew 
Massacre  under  Charles  IX.,  and  the  several  wars  of 
relioion  in  France  under  his  successors,  which  terminated 
in  the  taking  of  Rochelle  by  Louis  XIIL,  I  pass  on  to 
subsequent  events. 

After  the  Edict  of  Pardon  of  Louis  XIIL  in  1629,  the 
Huguenots  ceased  to  exist  as  a  political  body  and  became 
loyal  subjects,  taking  no  part  in  the  civil  broils  of  the 
time.  Cardinal  Mazarin  frankly  acknowledged  the  loyalty 
of  tliese  Protestants,  saying :  "  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with 
this  little  flock ;  if  it  browses  on  bad  herbs,  at  least  it  does 
not  stray  away."  They  were  the  most  industrious  people 
in  France.  In  Languedoc  and  Beam,  where  they  were 
most  numerous,  the  lands  were  covered  with  grain  and 
vines,  and  the  hill-sides  with  sheep.  In  such  towns  as 
Tours  and  Lyons  they  carried  on  the  silk  manufactures ; 
made  velvets  and  ribbons,  the  finest  brocades,  and  the 
best  cloth  to  be  found  in  Europe.  They  established  excel- 
lent linen  factories  in  Normandy,  paper  manufactories  in 


THE  HUGUENOTS.  329 

Auvergne,  —  having  in  one  province  six  hundred  paper- 
mills.  They  manufactured  in  otlier  places  leather,  iioii, 
and  steel.  The  English  purcliased  large  quantities  ui" 
these  articles,  valued  at  many  nj  ill  ions  sterling.  One  busi- 
ness advantage  which  they  had  over  the  Catholics  was 
that,  by  not  keeping  the  Catholic  festivals,  they  had  fifty 
more  working  days  in  the  year.  They  were  also  a  people 
of  strong  character  and  severe  morals.  The  Huguenots 
were  abused  in  the  writings  of  the  time  for  their  religion, 
and  called  Atheists,  Blasphemers,  the  Spawn  of  Hell, — 
hut  no  word'  was  said  against  their  virtue.  One  of  their 
persecutors  said  :  "  If  they  are  bad  Catholics,  they  are 
good  traders."  The  word  of  the  Huguenot  was  as  good  as 
liis  bond,  —  and  so  the  foreign  trade  fell  into  their  hands 
at  Bordeaux,  Rouen,  and  other  centres  of  commerce. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  peaceful  industry,  by  which 
they  were  enriching  France,  that  Louis  XIV.,  in  the  pride 
of  his  power  and  the  narrowness  of  his  bigotry,  decided  that 
rrutestantism  must  cease  to  exist  throughout  his  domin- 
ions, and  tliat  there  should  be  no  religion  in  the  realm  but 
his  own.  Persecutions  then  began  which  culminated  in 
the  Be  vocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685.  Before 
this,  Louis  had  tried  to  bribe  the  Huguenots  to  become 
Catholics,  by  jmying  a  considerable  sum  of  money  to  each 
convert.  Children  were  taken  from  their  parents  to  be 
brought  up  in  convents.  Soldiers  were  quartered  on  the 
Huguenot  families.  Their  churches  were  burned,  their 
ministers  banished,  their  women  and  children  cruelly 
abused.  In  this  way  wIkjIc  provinces  were  apparently 
converted. 

§  2.  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  Persecution 
of  tlie  Protedants.  —  The  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
meant  simply  this  :  all  the  Protestant  churches  in  France 
were  to  be  destroyed ;   the  religion  was  prohibited  ;  all 


330  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS    IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

Protestant  pastors  were  banished  ;  all  schools  were  closed ; 
all  the  children  were  to  be  baptized  and  taught  in  the 
Catholic  religion ;  and  if  any  of  the  Huguenots  attempted 
to  escape  from  France,  the  men  were  to  be  sent  to  the 
galleys  and  the  women  imprisoned  for  life. 

The  Eoman  Catholic  clergy  of  France  were  wild  with 
joy.  Both  Bossuet  and  Massillon  publicly  blessed  God 
for  "this  great  act  of  piety"  of  Louis  XIV.,  —  for  this 
war  against  peaceful  people  and  happy  homes,  against  the 
innocent,  industrious,  and  pure. 

Thouoh  Louis  XIV.  had  sworn  at  the  beijjinningf  of  his 
reion  to  maintain  the  toleration  of  Protestants  accordino^ 
to  the  Edict  of  Henry  IV.,  though  the  Protestants  were 
the  most  industrious,  enterprising,  and  loyal  of  his  sub- 
jects, —  yet  his  violation  of  his  oath,  and  his  wholesale 
persecution  of  those  whom  he  was  bound  to  protect,  re- 
ceived the  almost  universal  approbation  of  French  Cath- 
olics. The  aged  Chancellor  who  affixed  the  great  seal 
of  France  to  the  deed,  cried  out :  "  Lord  !  now  lettest  thou 
thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation."  The  great  Bossuet  called  Louis  the  new  Con- 
stantine.  The  sprightly  letter- writer,  Madame  de  Sevigne, 
wrote  to  a  friend  :  "  We  are  by  no  means  dull  here  ;  hang- 
ing is  quite  a  refreshment  to  me  ;  they  have  just  taken 
twenty-four  or  thirty  of  these  men,  and  are  about  to  turn 
them  off."  These  men  were  to  be  hung  simply  for  attend- 
ing Protestant  meetings ! 

Tlie  savans  of  the  French  Academy,  which  was  founded 
by  a  Huguenot,  publicly  approved  this  act  of  revocation. 
La  Fontaine  spoke  of  heresy  as  "  at  its  last  gasp."  Thomas 
Corneille  eulogized  the  zeal  of  the  King.  Fontenelle 
wrote  a  poem  in  praise  of  the  Eevocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  which  received  a  prize  from  the  Academy. 

The  common  people  also  enjoyed  pulling  down  churches 


THE    HUGUENOTS.  331 

and  plundering  Protestants.  The  dragoons  were  of  course 
pleased  with  living  at  free  quarters  in  Protestant  families. 

The  Church  was  most  delighted  of  all.  The  Pope  had 
Te  Deuni  sung  on  the  occasion,  at  St.  Peter's.  All  France 
seemed  about  to  be  converted.  Such  were  the  horrors  per- 
petrated by  the  dragoons  that  whole  communities  of  Protes- 
tants signed  an  abjuration  to  save  their  families  from  their 
insults  and  atrocities.  In  one  place  five  thousand  Protes- 
tants were  reported  as  converted ;  in  another,  ten  thousand. 
Only  Fenelon,  and  a  few  other  good  men  like  him,  sufr- 
gested  that  this  sort  of  conversion  by  force  made  hypo- 
crites but  not  believers. 

The  demolition  of  the  Protestant  temples  at  once  began. 
One  immense  building  near  Paris,  which  held  fourteen 
thousand  persons,  was  levelled  to  the  ground.  In  a  few 
weeks  eight  hundred  churches  were  destroyed.  Horrible 
persecutions  1)egan  against  all  who  refused  to  become 
Itoman  Catholics.  The  only  resource  was  flight ;  and  the 
frontiers  were  guarded  by  troops  and  vigilantly  watched, 
while  ships  of  war  cruised  off  the  ports  and  searched  the 
outgoing  vessels  ;  but  nmltitudes  had  already  escaped  and 
gone  to  Holland,  Germany,  and  England.  The  pastors 
having  been  banislied,  their  people  prepared  to  follow.  They 
disposed  of  their  factories  and  homes  as  they  could  ;  turned 
their  property  into  money,  and  crossed  the  frontier  by 
avoiding  the  high-roads  and  finding  their  way  through  the 
woods  and  over  the  mountains.  They  travelled  by  night, 
in  small  parties  or  alone.  Some  were  taken,  bound,  put 
to  death,  or  sent  to  the  galleys.  They  were  chained  in 
gangs  with  thieves  and  murderers, — old  men,  little  boys, 
magistrates,  scholars.  Tlie  guards  on  the  frontier  were 
increased  ;  false  stories  were  circulated  of  the  misery  of 
those  who  had  reached  England,  —  that  they  were  starving 
there,  and  bow  they  longed  to  return ;   but  tliis  was  all  in 


332  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 


vain.  The  emigration  continued  and  grew  larger.  The 
emigrants  disguised  themselves  as  beggars,  soldiers,  traders. 
They  prepared  and  distributed  plans  of  the  roads  and  the 
hiding-places  on  the  way,  just  as  was  done  in  this  coun- 
try for  the  slaves  escaping  to  the  North  by  the  Under- 
ground Railroad.  Some  escaped  by  the  Forest  of  Ardennes, 
some  by  the  passes  of  the  Jura.  The  women  cut  off  their 
hair,  disfigured  their  faces,  dressed  theiiiselves  like  ser- 
vants or  pedlers.  They  drew  wheelbarrows,  carried  bur- 
dens, counterfeited  dumbness  and  insanity.  One  man  has 
given  an  account  of  how,  attempting  to  escape,  he  was 
caught.  He  was  put  into  prison,  and  while  there  five 
other  Huguenots,  arrested  in  the  like  way,  were  put  into 
the  room.  Two  of  these  turned  out  to  be  young  ladies 
disguised  as  boys,  escaping  from  France  on  foot  in  mid- 
winter. They  were  immured  in  a  convent,  where  they 
died.  The  narrator  was  loaded  witli  irons  and  sent  to  the 
galleys,  where  he  suffered  twelve  years. 

Andrew  Bosquet  was  sixteen  years  old  when  taken,  and 
remained  in  the  galleys  twenty- six  years.  Recently  a 
record  was  found  of  a  child  twelve  years  old  who  was 
sent  to  the  galleys  "  for  having  accompanied  his  father  to 
preaching."  The  Baron  of  Montljelon  was  sent  to  the 
galleys  at  seventy  years  of  age.  One  of  the  King's  coun- 
sellors was  sent  with  the  rest,  and  while  chained  there 
composed  "  A  Discourse  in  Defence  of  Divine  Providence." 
Another  galley-slave  was  John  Huber,  father  of  the  three 
Hubers  who  have  written  respectively  on  the  Ants,  the 
Bees,  and  the  Birds. 

Meantime,  while  many  were  cr(jssing  the  frontier,  some 
escaped  in  vessels,  hidden  under  the  cargo ;  others  in 
open  boats,  half-frozen  and  half-starved.  Two  young 
ladies  named  Raboteau  were  aided  bv  a  kinsman,  a  wine- 
mercliant,   to  escape,  by   being   put  into  two  casks  and 


THE   HUGUENOTS.  333 

marked  as  French  apples.  Another  lady  on  reaching 
England  tlirew  herself  down  and  [)assionately  kissed  the 
ground,  crying  out :  "  I  thank  thee,  O  Lord,  tliat  I  can  rest 
my  head  on  this  beloved  soil ! "  We  have  frequent  occa- 
sion to  find  fault  with  England  and  the  Englisli  !  Let  us 
remember  to  the  credit  of  that  land  tliat  it  has  been  a 
liaven  of  safety  to  the  persecuted  of  all  countries,  where 
they  have  been  protected  from  the  fury  of  the  tyrant  and 
the  rage  of  the  priest. 

This  emigration  put  an  end  for  a  time  to  the  best 
industries  of  Emnce.  The  great  cloth-manufacture  at 
Abbeville  came  entirely  to  an  end.  Instead  of  forty  tliou- 
sand  silk-manufacturers  at  Tours,  there  remained  only  four 
thousand  ;  instead  of  eight  thousand  looms,  one  hundred. 
Lyons,  Nantes,  and  other  cities  did  not  recover  their  pros- 
perity until  a  century  had  passed  by. 

Large  numbers  of  the  fugitives  went  to  Geneva,  Berne, 
and  Zurich.  As  they  were  mostly  destitute,  the  Protes- 
tant cantons  raised  a  fund  to  help  them.  The  city  of 
Geneva  was  generous  in  the  highest  degree.  In  forty 
years  it  gave  to  tliese  refugees  more  than  five  millions  of 
florins.  The  King  of  France  threatened  Geneva  with  his 
vengeance  if  it  did  not  expel  the  fugitives.  The  magis- 
trates pretended  to  comi)ly  and  ordered  tliem  to  leave. 
Tliey  went  out  of  one  of  the  gates,  toward  France,  in  a 
long  and  sad  j)rocession ;  but  at  midniglit  the  citizens  went 
alter  tliem,  led  them  round  the  city,  and  brought  them  in 
by  the  opposite  gate. 

The  Elector  of  Bmndenburg,  father  of  Frederic  the  Great, 
issued  an  edict  offering  protection  and  a  home  to  all  those 
driven  from  France  on  account  of  their  religion.  He  de- 
clared that  he  would  sell  his  plate  rather  than  they  should 
be  in  want. 

Great  numbers,  therefore,  went  to  Berlin.     Others  went 


334         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY, 

to  Holland,  which  was  named  "  the  great  Ark  of  the  fugi- 
tives." The  sympathy  of  Protestant  Europe  was  drawn 
toward  these  martyrs  sufiering  for  cOnscience-sake  ;  and 
part  of  the  retribution  due  to  the  persecutors  came  when 
William  of  Orange  took  the  throne  of  England,  defeating 
the  troops  of  James  II.  by  the  help  of  an  army  the  flower 
of  which  consisted  of  French  Huguenots,  — veterans  trained 
in  the  wars  of  Turenne  and  Conde. 

These  measures  seemed  to  have  crushed  Protestantism 
in  France.  The  pastors  had  been  banished  or  put  to  death  ; 
the  Protestant  churches  were  destroyed ;  the  persecutions 
and  dragoonings  had  converted  in  appearance  great  num- 
bers.    The  fascinatiniJ-  Madame  de  Sevii^ne  wrote  :  "  These 

o  o 

conversions,  helped  by  the  dragoons,  are  the  grandest  and 
finest  thinos  ever  imagined."  Murillac  brought  over  thou- 
sands  in  a  w^eek.  De  Noailles  converted  all  Nismes  in  a 
single  day ;  the  next  day  he  took  his  soldiery  to  Mont- 
pellier  and  converted  that  place.  Those  who  refused  were 
sent  to  prison  and  kept  in  loathsome  dungeons.  The 
priests  boasted  that  in  three  months  they  had  made  half 
a  million  Catholics.  These  new  converts  were  marched 
to  church  by  the  soldiers.  They  had  to  answer  to  their 
names  read  from  a  list  at  the  door ;  were  compelled  to 
use  the  hoi}''  water,  to  carry  the  incense  and  partake  of  the 
Host.  All  this  seemed  to  most  of  them  such  intolerable 
blasphemy  that  they  seized  the  first  opportunity  of  escap- 
ing from  the  kingdom.  As  soon  as  they  reached  a  foreign 
land  they  sought  for  a  Huguenot  church  and  made  public 
confession  of  their  sin  in  having  hypocritically  conformed 
to  Romanism.  Two  years  after  the  Revocation  there  was 
a  meeting  in  a  Huguenot  society  in  London,  at  which 
four  hundred  and  ninety-seven  members  w^ere  received 
again  into  the  Church  they  had  thus  been  compelled  to 
abandon. 


THE  HUGUENOTS.  335 

§  3.  Protestantism  in  the  South  of  France.  The  Alhigcn- 
ses  in  the  Thirteenth  Century.  The  War  of  the  Camisards. 
—  liut  there  was  one  i)art  of  France  where  Protestantism 
had  a  deeper  root.  This  was  Languedoc,  wliere,  in  the 
thirteentli  century,  Pope  Innocent  III.  had  ordered  a  cru- 
sade against  the  Albigenses.  Languedoc  was  tlien  one  of 
the  most  civilized  countries  in  Europe.  It  was  filled  with 
a  happy  i)opulation.  Large  cities  had  arisen,  full  of  wealth 
and  splendor.  Their  Counts  had  been  chief  among  the 
Crusaders,  and  brought  from  Palestine  many  oriental  cus- 
toms. Chivalry  was  the  religion  of  the  castles,  while  a 
singular  form  of  mystical  heresy  prevailed  among  the  peo- 
ple, —  a  kind  of  ]\Ianicheism  which  asserted  two  principles, 
one  good,  tlie  other  evil.  In  no  part  of  Europe  had  the 
clergy,  in  tliat  century,  so  entirely  lost  its  influence.  It 
was  degraded  and  despised.  Tlie  Trouljadours  of  Langue- 
doc and  Provence  were  the  real  priests,  and  the  Courts 
of  Love  had  drawn  away  the  interest  of  the  people  iVom 
the  churches.  Songs  and  banquets,  festivals  and  poetry, 
beguiled  the  joyful  hours. 

The  name,  Languedoc,  means  the  Language  of  Oc,  and 
refers  to  tlie  pecrdiar  form  of  the  Romance  Language  there 
spoken.  For  some  reason  tlie  Latin  language  had  no  sin- 
gle word  meaning  Yes,  but  the  old  Romans  used  a  periph- 
rasis, or  circumlocution,  of  three  kinds.  When  they  wished 
to  express  assent  they  either  said  Hoc  est  —  "  That 's  it "  ; 
or  Hoc  est  illud  —  "  That 's  the  thing ; "  or  Sic  est  —  "  That 's 
so."  The  people  who  spoke  languages  derived  from  the 
Latin  took,  each  of  them,  one  of  these  three  affirmative 
forms,  and  made  a  single  word  of  it.  In  Italy  they  took 
Sic  est  —  "  That 's  so,"  and  abridged  it  into  the  Italian  Si ; 
the  Italian  was  therefore  named  the  language  of  Si.  In 
the  North  of  France  they  took  the  phrase  Hoc  est  illud 
and  contracted  it  into  Ocil,  —  afterwards  into  Oni ;  so  that 


336         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

speech  was  called  the  language  of  Oeil.  In  the  South  of 
France  they  took  Hoc  est  and  made  of  it  Oc ;  therefore 
this  was  called  the  language  of  Oc. 

This  had  been  the  home  of  a  people  living  in  luxury  and 
ease,  basking  in  sunshine,  over  which  Innocent  III.,  the 
Vicar  of  Christ,  sent  a  desolation  of  fire  and  sword  at  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  crusaders  were 
like  vultures,  attracted  from  all  sides  by  hope  of  rich  plun- 
der. They  were  led  by  papal  legates,  and  accompanied  by 
Dominic,  the  founder  of  the  Dominicans.  "  Never,"  says 
Milman,  "  in  the  history  of  man,  were  the  eternal  principles 
of  justice  and  humanity  so  trampled  under  foot  as  in  this 
war."  ''  Slay  all  in  Beziers,"  said  Arnold,  abbot  and  papal 
legate  ;  "  God  will  know  his  own  ! "  All  the  great  prelates 
of  France  were  there,  —  come  to  feast  on  the  miseries  of 
their  fellow-men.  In  the  city  of  Beziers  all  were  massa- 
cred, seven  thousand  being  killed  in  one  church.  Thus 
liad  this  fair  land  been  desolated  by  these  cruel  church- 
men. 

But  always  in  this  region  of  France  there  had  remained 
the  element  of  Protest.  Such  awful  cruelties,  inflicted  on 
the  people  in  the  name  of  Eome,  had  not  induced  those 
who  survived  to  love  her.  They  had  transmitted  to  tlieir 
children  and  children's  children  an  imperishable  longing 
for  a  better  way.  Thus  in  Languedoc,  when  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  was  revoked,  there  were  said  to  be  a  quarter  of  a 
million  of  Protestants.  Many  of  them  escaped  into  other 
countries ;  a  large  number  were  compelled  by  force  to  con- 
form. Their  pastors  had  been  driven  from  the  country ; 
but  among  the  mountain  valleys  of  this  district,  especially 
in  what  is  called  Cevennes,  the  spirit  of  liberty  remained 
alive  and  strong.  There,  from  the  centre  of  France,  the 
land  rises  till,  in  the  Cevennes,  mountains  are  found 
five  to  six  thousand  feet  high.     In  this  country,  though 


Tin:  HUGUENOTS.  337 

deprived  of  their  churches  and  pastors,  the  people  met  in 
the  fields  and  forests  for  worsliip.  Troops  were  then  sent 
to  disperse  them.  The  Huguenots  were  shot  down  in 
the  midst  of  their  j)rayers,  were  taken  and  hung  on  tlie 
nearest  trees;  but  the  meetings  grew  larger.  The  men 
armed  themselves ;  they  posted  sentinels,  and  sometimes 
beat  back  the  King's  troops.  Then  more  troops  were  sent 
into  the  district  and  greater  severity  was  practised ;  but 
still  the  meetings  went  on.  They  came  together  at  mid- 
night, in  darkness  and  mystery,  chanting  their  hymns 
under  the  echoing  rocks,  and  fancied  they  heard  angel- 
voices  responding  in  the  air.  By  degrees  they  reached  a 
high  state  of  religious  excitement.  They  spoke  as  though 
inspired ;  they  fell  into  trances ;  they  prophesied  while  in 
an  unconscious  state.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  Hui^uenots 
increased,  and  force  was  of  no  avail  against  a  people  who 
believed  themselves  under  supernatural  influences.  At 
last,  excited  to  a  pitch  of  fury  by  the  tortures  inflicted  on 
their  friends  by  a  priest  named  C  hay  la,  the  people  rushed 
to  his  house,  delivered  their  friends  from  his  dungeons, 
and  killed  Chayla  himself.  This  led  to  the  insurrection 
of  tlie  Cami.sards,  a  people  wlio  have  been  compared 
to  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland  in  their  union  of  fanatic 
faith  with  desperate  courage  in  fighting  their  persecutors. 

Like  other  nicknames,  the  origin  and  meaning  of  Cami- 
sards  is  uncertain.  It  probably  means  the  "  men  in  white 
shirts,"  as  they  wore  a  sort  of  white  blouse.  This  moun- 
tain region  is  full  of  caves,  and  in  these  the  Camisards 
met  to  arrange  their  ])lans.  Here  they  stored  their  pro- 
visions and  ammunition ;  here  they  hid  their  women  and 
children  when  pursued.  Lightly  armed,  and  accustomed 
to  the  mountains,  tliey  moved  with  much  greater  raj)idity 
than  the  King's  troops,  and  during  some  years  defied  the 
whole  power  of  tlie  Great  King.     They  were  led  by  men 

22 


338         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

daring  but  sagacious,  who  seemed  to  have  gained  by 
instinct  a  knowledge  of  the  methods  of  war.  They  were 
inspired  by  that  religious  enthusiasm  before  which  mere 
military  organization  usually  fails.  They  had  with  them 
their  prophets,  of  whose  influence  one  of  their  own  writers 
thus  speaks :  — 

"  Their  inspirations  were  our  strength ;  they  chose  our 
leaders ;  they  were  our  discipline ;  they  banished  sorrow  from 
our  hearts  even  in  our  greatest  dangers,  —  for  God  was  always 
with  us  to  console  us." 

One  of  the  most  distincruished  of  the  leaders  was  Cava- 
lier,  only  a  peasant  boy,  a  baker's  apprentice,  —  but  one, 
nevertheless,  who  frequently  defeated  tlie  armies  of  Louis. 
As  he  grew  up  and-  saw  the  cruelty  practised  on  the 
people,  he  joined  the  insurgents.  Their  leader,  Eoland, 
had  then  about  a  thousand  men  under  him,  for  when  the 
soldiers  burned  the  villages  the  peasants  had  no  resource 
but  to  become  Camisards.  Cavalier  could  preach  as  well 
as  light.  He  was  a  handsome  youth,  and  was  compared 
by  his  associates  to  David. 

During  the  winter  of  1702  the  Camisards  were  orc^aniz- 
ing  their  troops,  collecting  ammunition  and  provisions,  and 
by  the  spring  they  had  three  thousand  men,  badl}^  armed 
and  short  of  powder ;  but  they  learned  how  to  manufacture 
their  own  powder,  and  they  also  often  suddenly  fell  upon 
any  place  where  arms  and  ammunition  were  stored,  and  car- 
ried them  to  their  retreats  by  mountain-paths,  every  foot 
of  which  they  knew. 

Cavalier  descended  from  his  mountains  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Nismes,  fighting,  preaching,  and  sacking  the 
Catholic  churches.  Count  Broglie,  the  Eoyal  commander, 
went  out  to  meet  him,  but  he  had  disappeared. 

Hearing  of  Cavalier  in  another  quarter,  a  large  force  of 


THE   HUGUENOTS.  339 

troops  were  sent  to  seize  liini.  They  liad  a  guide  who  was 
secretly  one  of  Cavalier's  followers.  He  led  them  into  a 
narrow  ravine,  where  they  were  furiously  charged  by  the 
Caniisards  and  utterly  defeated.  The  Caraisards  took  the 
arms,  clothes,  and  money  of  the  dead  soldiers,  all  of  which 
they  much  needed,  and  then  proceeded  to  hold  public 
woi-sliip  near  by.  Tlie  governor  of  Alais  heard  of  it,  and 
sent  six  hundred  men,  and  a  mule  loaded  with  ropes 
with  which  to  bind  or  liang  the  Caniisards ;  but  Cavalier 
heard  of  their  approach  and  waylaid  them,  and  rising  sud- 
denly from  behind  the  rocks  fired  a  full  volley  at  the 
cavaliy  in  front.  Terrified,  they  turned  and  rode  back, 
dispersing  and  trampling  down  their  own  foot-soldiers,  and 
all  fled  together,  pursued  by  the  Caniisards,  who  slew  a 
srreat  number  and  took  two  loads  of  ammunition  and 
arms  together  with  the  ropes,  which  the  patient  mule, 
indifferent  what  party  he  served,  carried  for  them  to  their 
retreat. 

Soon  after,  Cavalier  determined  to  assail  the  strong  cas- 
tle of  Servas,  the  governor  of  which  had  been  veiy  savage 
in  his  attacks  on  assemblies  of  the  Caniisards.  Cavalier 
happened  to  find  in  the  pocket  of  an  officer  whom  he  had 
seized  an  order  from  Count  Broglie  directing  all  officials 
to  lodfje  him  and  liis  men.  He  dressed  in  the  clothes  of 
the  soldiers  they  had  killed,  twelve  of  his  own  followers, 
who  led  six  others  in  their  Camisard  dress,  bound  with 
ropes.  Cavalier  put  on  the  officer's  uniform,  and  demanded 
admission  to  the  castle  for  himself  and  prisoners.  The 
order  of  Count  Broglie  caused  him  to  be  at  once  received. 
In  the  evening,  at  a  signal  given,  some  of  his  soldiers  seized 
the  governor  and  his  attendants,  others  opened  the  gates ; 
the  Caniisards  outside  rushed  in,  the  castle  was  taken,  all 
the  arms  and  ammunition  taken  out,  and  the  building 
burned.     The  same  trick  was  successful  in  auntlicr  i>];u«% 


340  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

where  he  found  and  shot  two  priests  who  had  been  per- 
secutors of  his  people.  Fear  spread  through  the  country 
among  the  Catholics  ;  the  bishops  and  gentry  fled  from 
their  castles ;  the  insurrection  spread.  The  Camisards 
levied  taxes  on  these  regions,  and  compelled  the  Catholic 
farmers  to  bring  food  to  their  camp. 

The  governor  of  the  province,  Baville,  was  highly  mor- 
tified at  these  repeated  defeats  of  his  veteran  troops  by 
half-armed  peasants.  He  sent  more  soldiers  against  them, 
but  the  rapid  movements  of  the  rebels  confused  their 
opj)onents.  Cavalier  would  suddenly  appear  in  some 
region,  and  by  the  time  the  troops  reached  the  place  he 
would  be  committing  devastations  far  away.  If,  to  prevent 
this,  they  divided  themselves  into  small  bodies,  he  would 
overpower  them  in  detail.  The  governor  was  at  last  ob- 
liged to  confess  his  inability  to  put  down  the  insurrection, 
and  to  ask  for  more  troops.  Large  numbers  were  sent,  too 
numerous  to  be  resisted ;  but  by  their  rapid  movements, 
and  their  power  of  concealing  themselves  in  the  mountains, 
the  Camisards  continued  to  escape  their  enemies  and  inflict 
on  them  frequent  defeats. 

The  next  year,  the  third  of  the  war,  the  army  of  Lan- 
guedoc  was  increased  to  sixty  thousand  men,  and  put 
under  the  command  of  one  of  the  Kino's  ablest  generals, 
Marshal  Montrevel.  He  succeeded  in  defeating  the  peas- 
ants once  or  twice  by  superior  numbers,  and  thought  he 
had  destroyed  them.  But  they  divided  into  small  par- 
ties, and  then  scattered  themselves  all  over  the  coun- 
try, and  were  heard  of  at  once  in  many  places,  burning 
the  houses  of  the  Catholic  gentry,  capturing  provisions 
and  ammunition,  and  cutting  off  small  parties  of  soldiers. 
Thus  the  war  went  on,  each  party  destroying  the  towns 
inhabited  by  the  friends  of  the  other,  till  the  whole  coun- 
try was  desolate.    The  Camisards  destroyed  twenty  thou- 


THE   HUGUENOTS.  341 

sand  of  tlip  sixty  thousand  troops  under  Montrevel.  Queen 
Anne  sent  a  tieet  to  the  (lulC  of  Lyons  with  a  regiment 
of  Huguenot  eniigianls  on  board  to  help  the  insurgents. 
The  gove'*nnient  of  Louis  XIV.  was  alarmed.  Montrevel 
was  recalled,  and  j\Iarshal  Vi liars  sent  in  his  place  with 
full  powers ;  but  before  he  left,  Montrevel  collected  all 
his  troops  and  succeeded  in  entrapjiing  Cavalier,  whom 
success  had  made  careless,  into  an  ambuscade  where  he 
was  surrouniied  on  all  sides  by  superior  troops.  Cav- 
alier by  great  energy  cut  his  way  through,  but  witli  a 
large  loss  ol"  men.  When  Marshal  Villars  arrived  and 
heard  t)f  it  lie  went  out  to  see  the  field,  and  expressed  his 
admiration  at  the  genius  of  Cavalier.  "Here,"  said  he, 
"  is  a  man  cl  no  military  education  who,  in  one  of  the 
most  diilicult  positions,  has  shown  a  skill  worthy  of  Julius 
Caesar." 

Villars  was  neither  cruel  nor  bigoted,  but  an  honorable 
and  humane  soldier,  who  deplored  the  continuance  of  the 
conllict,  and  sought  to  bring  it  to  an  end.  Meantime  the 
fortune  of  war  had  changed  ;  the  Cami.sards  had  been  fre- 
quently defeated,  and  their  secret  stores  of  ammunition 
discovered  and  destroyed. 

Villars  announced  that  he  was  ready  to  pardon  all  who 
would  lay  down  their  arms.  He  sought  an  interview  with 
Cavalit^r,  and  offered  very  generous  terms  which  Cavalier 
accepted,  but  which  the  other  leaders  refused.  The  Prot- 
estants were  to  be  no  longer  persecuted,  and  were  allowed 
to  hold  meetings  in  the  country ;  those  in  prison  were  to 
be  released,  and  exiles  allowed  to  return.  The  other  chiefs 
Avho  refused  to  submit  were  shortly  after  defeated  and 
slain.  Cavalier  with  his  companions  held  public  religious 
services  daily  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nismes.  He  vis- 
ited Paris,  had  an  interview  with  Louis  XIV.,  went  to 
England,  entered  the  English  army,  rose  to  the  rank  of 


342  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS    IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

a  major-general,  was  made  governor  of  Jersey,  and  died  in 
Ills  bed  in  1740. 

Protestantism  in  France  gradually  disappeared.  For  a 
time  it  remained  hidden  and  silent.  There  was  no  preach- 
ing, no  worship.  At  last  it  revived, —  chiefly  from  the  ef- 
forts of  one  young  man,  Antoine  Court,  of  Nismes.  When 
only  seventeen  he  assembled  the  concealed  Huguenots 
together  in  secret  meetings  and  began  to  read  tlie  Bible 
to  tliem.  Then  he  began  to  preach,  going  secretly  through 
the  South  of  France.  The  people  met  in  abandoned  stone- 
quarries  or  in  the  forests,  and  were  known  as  the  Church  in 
the  Desert.  Finally  Court  called  a  synod,  in  the  year  1715, 
to  re-establish  the  proscribed  religion.  Preachers  were  set 
apart,  churches  formed,  circuits  established.  He  found  it 
necessary  to  teach  his  preachers,  for  they  were  very 
ignorant.  So  he  established  a  Divinity  School  in  a  ravine, 
near  a  torrent  which  would  cover  the  sound  of  their  voices. 
"  There,"  says  Court,  "  we  studied  eight  hours  at  a  time. 
This  rocky  cleft  was  our  hall,  lecture-room,  and  library. 
I  made  them  discuss  passages  of  Scripture  and  explain 
them.  Sometimes  I  made  one  preach  to  the  rest."  These 
preachers  took  their  lives  in  their  hands,  for  if  taken  they 
would  have  been  sent  to  the  galleys,  or  perhaps  broken 
on  the  wheel,  or  hung,  —  for  the  persecutions  had  recom- 
menced. 

Nevertheless,  the  numbers  of  the  Protestants  increased. 
The  preachers  travelled  mostly  by  night,  in  disguise.  Court 
journeyed  through  Europe,  raising  money  with  which  to 
buy  Bibles  and  support  a  school  for  his  preachers  which  he 
had  founded  in  Switzerland.  He  began  his  work  in  1715, 
and  in  1729  there  were  in  Languedoc  forty-two  churches 
and  about  two  hundred  thousand  Protestants.  The  per- 
secutions went  on  as  before,  but  the  body  of  the  Huguenots 
grew  larger.     In  1756  there  were  forty-eight  pastors  and 


THE   HUGUENOTS.  343 

twenty-two  travelling  preachers.     In  1763  there  were  one 
liundred  pastoi-s  and  preachers. 

§4  The  Case  of  Colas  in  1762.  —  Down  to  the  year 
1762  it  was  such  a  common  thing  in  France  to  tor- 
ture, hang,  and  rack  Protestants  that  little  was  thouglit 
of  it.  In  that  year  tlie  cruel  punislunent  of  one  Protes- 
tant put  an  end  to  such  atrocities  forever ;  and  this  was 
Imnight  about  not  by  the  influence  of  Poman  Catholic 
bishops,  or  even  by  the  remonstrances  of  Protestant 
cluirclies  and  governments,  but  by  the  admirable  efforts  of 
a  man  who  stands  before  the  world  as  the  arch-infidel  of 
his  time,  —  Voltaire. 

Jean  Galas  resided  at  Toulouse,  a  city  full  of  bigoted 
monks  and  priests.  He  was  a  paralytic  sixty-four  years 
of  age.  He  and  liis  family  were  all  Protestants  except 
one  son,  wlio  was  a  Catholic.  Another,  a  dissipated  man, 
fell  into  trouble  and  hung  himself.  Thereupon  some  monks 
got  up  a  story  that  Calas  had  killed  his  son  to  keep  him 
from  turning  Catholic.  Tlie  public  mind  was  inflamed  ; 
Calas  and  liis  family  were  seized  and  sent  to  prison  ;  and 
the  2)Oor  paralytic  father  was  sentenced  to  be  broken  alive 
on  the  wheel.  This  was  done,  and  the  rest  of  tlie  family 
were  released  and  went  to  Geneva  where  Voltaire  saw  them. 
He  was  no  friend  to  the  Huguenots,  nor  to  any  other  form 
of  religion ;  but  he  liated  injustice  and  oppression.  He 
devoted  himself  to  this  case,  and  wrote  letters  about  it  to 
the  leading  men  of  France  and  to  all  the  kings  of  Europe. 
He  also  published  pamphlets  written  with  his  inimitable 
power  of  wit  and  argument.  Whoever  came  to  see  him, 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  heard  this  story.  All  France,  all 
Europe,  at  last  rang  with  the  tale  of  horror.  The  dead  man 
liad  l)ecome  a  martyr.  Finally  tlie  government  was  forced 
by  public  opinion  to  have  a  court  appointed  to  re-examine 
the   case.      Voltaire   prepared   the   arguments,    consulted 


344         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

with  the  lawyers,  inspired  their  pleadings  with  his  own 
brilliant  wit,  sarcasm,  eloquence.  At  length  the  decree 
was  reversed.  Galas  was  declared  innocent  four  years 
after  his  death,  and  thirty-six  thousand  francs  given  to 
his  widow. 

The  effect  of  all  this  was  to  make  similar  persecution 
impossible  ever  after.  It  also  called  attention  to  the 
cruelties  still  practised,  to  the  stealing  of  Protestant  chil- 
dren in  order  to  make  them  Catholics,  —  and  by  degrees 
these  things  ceased.  The  sending  of  Protestants  to  the 
galleys  was  brought  to  an  end  by  means  of  the  Drama,  as 
putting  them  to  death  ceased  througli  the  influence  of  the 
Deist  Voltaire.  The  case  of  Pabre,  —  a  young  man  who 
went  to  the  galleys  to  save  his  father  from  that  fate,  both 
having  been  at  a  religious  meeting,  and  the  father  taken 
prisoner,  —  was  dramatized  and  acted  at  court.  It  was 
called  "  The  Honest  Criminal."  The  great  lords  and  ladies 
shed  tears  over  tlie  play,  and  there  were  no  more  Prot- 
estants sent  to  those  places  of  torture.  Soon  came  the 
French  Eevolution  and  ended  the  reign  of  persecution  in 
France  forever. 

In  regard  to  the  later  history  of  the  Vaudois,  with  their 
martyrdoms  and  patient  faitli,  I  can  merely  refer  to  the  fa- 
mous Easter  massacre,  when  the  Duke  of  Savoy  attempted 
to  kill  all  his  Protestant  subjects.  These  murders  continued 
a  week,  accompanied  with  horrible  brutalities.  A  cry  of 
horror  rang  through  Europe.  Cromwell,  then  at  the  height 
of  his  power,  did  what  no  king  of  England,  not  even 
William  III.,  had  before'  attempted.  He  sent  a  special 
ambassador  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  demanding  that  these 
people  should  be  protected  from  further  injury,  and  threat- 
ening him  with  the  power  of  England  if  he  refused.  He 
did  not  refuse,  —  especially  as  Cromwell  ordered  his  am- 
bassador at  Paris  not  to  sign  a  treaty  just  made  with 


THE   HUGUENOTS.  345 

France,  until  Cardinal  Mazarin  liad  agreed  to  assist  in 
getting  justice  done  to  the  people  of  those  valleys.  Milton, 
then  Latin  secretary  to  Cromwell,  had  the  satisfaction  of 
(hawing  up  these  papers,  and  wlien  it  was  done  refreshed 
liiniself  by  writing  his  well  known  sonnet:  — 

"  Avenf,'e,  O  Lord  !  tliy  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Ali)ine  mountains  cold  ; 
Even  them  who  kept  thy  truth  so  pure  of  old, 

When  all  our  fathers  worshipped  stocks  and  stones, 

Forget. not:  in  thy  book  record  their  groans 
Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold 
Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  rolled 

Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.     The  moans 

The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 
To  Heaven " 

This  act  of  Cromwell  was  one  of  which  England  may 
well  be  proud.  It  is  considerably  more  to  her  credit  than 
sending  troops  to  destroy  villages  in  Abyssinia,  Afghanistan, 
or  South  Africa. 

§  5.  DcsccndanU  of  the  Huguenots  in  England  and 
America.  —  Among  the  distinguished  descendants  of  the 
Huguenots  in  England  have  been  such  men  as  Major 
Andre  ;  Sir  Samuel  lioniilly  ;  James  and  Harriet  Mar- 
tineau ;  Dollond  the  optician,  inventor  of  the  achromatic 
telescope  ;  Mrs.  Barbauld  ;  Archbishop  Trench  ;  Garrick, 
whose  French  name  was  Garrique ;  Captain  Marryat,  the 
naval  novelist ;  Captain  Chamier ;  Miss  Burney  and  Mrs. 
liadclilfe ;  De  Foe,  descended  from  De  Vaux ;  Maturin, 
the  novelist;  Jortin,  author  of  the  "Life  of  Erasmus;" 
Colonel  Barre,  who  in  Parliament  opposed  the  Stamp  Act, 
and  for  whom  the  town  of  Barre  in  Massachusetts  is 
named ;  Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis ;  and  Labouchere 
(Baron  Taunton). 

Many  peers  of  England  are  descended  from  Huguenots 
on  the  male  or  female  side,  —  as  Djrd  Clancary ;  Bussell, 


OttG  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Duke  of  Bedford ;  Cavendish,  Duke  of  Devonshire ;  the 
Duke  of  Leeds  ;  and  others. 

Fonblanque,  of  the  London  Press ;  Gillott,  the  maker  of 
steel  pens  ;  Grote  the  historian,  of  the  same  family  as 
Hugo  Grotius,  both  descended  from  refugees  named  De 
Grote ;  the  two  brothers  Newman ;  Father  Faber  the  poet ; 
and  Dr.  Pusey,  —  are  also  of  Huguenot  origin. 

Even  the  Queen  of  England  has  Huguenot  blood  in  her 
veins.  The  Marquis  d'Olbreuse  escaped  from  Poitou  into 
Brandenburg.  The  Duke  of  Zell  married  his  only  daughter. 
Her  daughter  was  Sophia  Dorotliea,  wife  of  George  I. 
Thus  the  Queen  of  England  is  descended  from  a  Huguenot 
exile.  So  also  is  the  Emperor  of  Prussia,  since  a  daughter 
of  Sophia  Dorothea  married  Frederic  William,  ancestor  of 
the  present  Emperor.  These  exiles  were  like  Joseph,  wdio 
was  sold  by  his  brothers  and  who  afterward  became  Viceroy 
of  Egypt. 

The  first  settlement  in  this  country  by  the  Huguenots 
was  in  Florida.  It  was  besrun,  loncj  before  the  Eevocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  by  Admiral  Coligny,  afterwards 
murdered  in  the  Bartholomew  massacre.  He  wished  to 
found  a  refuge  for  the  Huguenots  in  America;  and  sent 
out  an  expedition  which  made  a  settlement  near  the  St. 
John's  Eiver,  which  was  called  the  Eiver  of  May;  and 
afterwards  established  a  colony  on  one  of  the  Port  Royal 
islands.  This  was  in  1562,  more  than  fifty  years  before 
the  English  landed  at  Plymouth.  They  gave  tlie  name 
Carolina  to  the  country  in  honor  of  Charles  IX.,  by  whose 
wicked  orders  Coligny  himself  was  massacred,  Aug.  24, 
1572,  ten  years  after.  This  colony  perished,  and  another 
was  sent  to  Florida.  It  seemed  about  to  thrive,  when  it 
was  attacked  by  the  ruthless  bigotry  of  the  Spaniards,  who 
in  the  name  of  the  Catholic  relis^ion  murdered  all  the  in- 
habitants  of  the  inoffensive  settlement,  —  men,  women  and 


THE  IIUCUENOTS.  347 

children,  and  on  tlie  ground  still  smoking  with  the  blood 
of  these  heretics,  founded  a  Iionian  Catholic  church. 

Many  Huguenots  came  to  New  York,  among  whom 
were  the  De  Lancys  and  Jays.  Some  settled  in  Virginia, 
but  the  largest  numl)cr  went  to  South  Carolina.  There 
were,  at  one  time,  in  Charleston,  at  least  sixteen  thousand 
Huguenots.  Many  of  their  descendants  have  risen  to  emi- 
nence in  that  State,  —  as  the  Laurenses,  the  Hiigers,  and 
Marion,  the  famous  leader  in  the  American  Kevolution. 

Wherever  the  Huguenots  settled  they  were  distinguished 
by  industry,  severe  morahty,  great  cliarity,  and  a  politeness 
and  courtesy  of  manners  not  usual  among  the  descendants 
of  tlie  English.  Three  of  the  presidents  of  Congress  dur- 
ing the  devolution  were  of  this  race,  Henry  Laurens,  John 
Jay  and  Elias  Boudinot. 

In  1686  and  1687  many  of  the  French  Huguenots 
reached  Boston.  They  formed  a  church  which  first  wor- 
shipped in  the  school-house  in  School  Street.  Afterward, 
about  the  year  1716,  tliey  built  a  small  church  ou  the 
same  street.  M.  Daille  was  the  first  pastor.  In  his  will 
he  prohibited  the  use  of  wine  at  his  funeral,  and  gave  his 
books  to  form  a  library  for  the  church.  He  lies  buried  in 
the  middle  of  the  Granary  burying-ground. 

Mr.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  in  his  memoir  on  the  "  Life 
and  Services  of  Governor  James  Bowdoin,"  gives  tlie  pe- 
tition of  Pierre  Baudouin,  taken  from  the  original  French 
manuscript,  asking  Governor  Andros  to  give  him  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  near  Casco  in  Elaine.  From  him  des- 
cended Governor  Bowdoin  and  many  Boston  families. 
Pierre  remained  in  Casco  over  two  years  and  then  re- 
moved to  Boston,  perhaps  attracted  by  the  Huguenot 
church  here.  Other  Boston  families,  —  as  the  Brimmers, 
Dexters,  Dehons,  Debloises,  Cazneaus,  Johonnots,  Mouli- 
neaux,  —  are  of  Huguenot  origin.      Peter   Faneuil,  who 


348  EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTOKY. 

gave  us  our  Faneuil  Hall,  was  the  son  of  a  Huguenot. 
Andrew  Sigourney,  ancestor  of  many  New  England  fami- 
lies, left  Eochelle  as  soon  as  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was 
repealed,  and  came  at  once  to  Massachusetts. 

In  this  country  and  England  the  French  names  have 
often  been  anglicized,  and  not  always  improved.  Goupe, 
has  become  Guppy.  Taillebois  was  chr>'iged  to  Talboys; 
Bouchier,  to  Botcher  or  Boxer;  D'Orlcns,  to  Dorliug; 
Condo,  to  Condy ;  De  Preux,  to  Diprose ;  De  Moulins,  to 
Mullins ;  Huighens,  to  Higgins  ;  Beaufois,  to  Beeffy  ;  Le- 
tellier,  to  Taylor ;  Brasseur,  to  Brassy ;  Le  Noir,  to  Leonard ; 
Gebon,  to  Gibbon. 

In  Boston  there  was  a  family  named  De  la  Noye.  Some 
of  them  emigrated  to  the  Cape,  dropped  the  article,  and 
their  name  was  changed  to  Nye.  Others  dropped  the 
article  and  became  Noyes.  Others  retained  the  article 
and,  dropping  the  two  last  vowels,  became  Delano,  —  a 
well  known  Boston  name. 

Some  of  these  exiles  in  England  and  America,  whose 
names  had  a  meaning,  translated  them,  and  went  by  the 
English  synonym.  Thus  L'Oiseau  turned  into  Bird  ;  M. 
Le  Jeune,  into  Mr.  Young ;  M.  Le  Blanc,  into  Mr.  White. 
M.  Le  Noir  became  Mr.  Black ;  M.  Le  Roy,  Mr.  King ;  M. 
La  Croix,  Mr.  Cross ;  M.  De  L'Eau,  Mr.  Waters. 

It  is  said  that  an  American  once  had  his  name  trans- 
lated twice,  and  wholly  changed.  His  real  name  was 
Flint.  He  went  to  France  to  live,  and  there  it  was  trans- 
lated into  the  French  equivalent  for  gun-flint,  namely, 
Pierre  de  Fusil.  Returning  to  this  country  it  was  retrans- 
lated into  Peter  Gun,  with  which  name  he  ended  his 
career. 

Every  great  crime,  no  matter  how  successful  it  may 
seem  at  first,  turns  out  at  last  a  great  blunder.  The  loss 
of  the  Huoiienots  took  out  of  France  one  of  its  most  vital 

O 


THE   HUGUENOTS.  349 

organs.  It  not  merely  paralyzed  the  industries  of  the 
country,  it  not  only  gave  to  Holland  iiud  Juigland  the 
manufactures  wliich  France  liad  before  monopolized,  but  it 
took  away  an  essential  element  of  French  national  cliarac- 
ter  and  national  life.  The  intellect  of  France  seemed 
struck  with  })aralysi8 ;  during  half  a  century  no  great 
thinkers  or  writers  appeared.  Louis  trampled  out  indi- 
viduality and  genius  when  he  set  his  foot  on  Protes- 
tantism. Merivale,  Michelet,  Smiles,  Huckle,  have  all 
noticed  this  fact.  Protestant  universities  were  suppressed, 
Protestant  scliools  closed,  Protestant  books  burned.  Since 
then,  that  spirit  of  submission  to  authority  came  which 
Paul  Louis  Courier  characterized  when  he  said  :  "  French- 
men, you  are  the  most  llunkeyish  of  all  nations!"  With 
Ilacine,  Corneille,  Pascal,  La  Fontaine,  Bossuet,  Fenelon, 
disappeared  the  great  men  of  France. 

The  Jesuits  had  triumphed.  France  was  converted. 
Protestant  property  had  been  given  to  the  Church,  and  it 
became  very  ricli.  The  clergy  held  in  their  hands  one  Hftli 
of  the  land  of  France,  estimated  at  eight  hundred  million 
dollars  in  value. 

What  was  the  result  ?  The  Deists,  the  Atheists,  tlie 
French  Revolution  !  The  nation  which  cast  out  tlie  noble 
Protestants  idolized  Voltaire,  Diderot,  and  Rousseau.  The 
Catholic  clergy  themselves  became  demomlized  by  wealth 
and  power.  Then  were  seen  prelates  of  tlie  Church  like 
Cardinal  Dubois  and  Talleyrand.  Instead  of  tlie  obedient 
and  loyal  Huguenots,  arrived  Robespierre,  Marat,  and 
Danton.  After  persecuting  the  Protestants,  the  lesson 
taught  to  the  people  by  the  Roman  clergy  was  repaid  to 
tliemselves.  They,  in  turn,  were  persecuted,  exiled,  and 
guillotined. 

These  were  the  results  of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of    Nantes,  —  Atheism    and    the    Reign    of   Terror.       As 


350         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

the  Protestants  had  fled  to  Holland  and  England,  so 
now  the  Catholic  priests  and  noblemen  fled  from  the 
rage  of  the  people  they  had  oppressed,  to  the  same  coun- 
tries. These  proud  and  luxurious  nobles  had  laughed 
at  the  misery  of  the  nation.  They  ground  the  peo- 
ple to  the  earth  with  taxes,  and  made  them  eat  grass 
like  cattle.  They  in  turn  had  to  fly ;  but  while  the  Hu- 
guenots carried  witli  them  habits  of  industry,  these  later 
fugitives  took  only  habits  of  idleness.  There  were,  no 
doubt,  fine  exceptions ;  but  the  majority  of  the  exiles 
of  the  French  Ee volution  knew  nothing  more  useful  than 
how  to  teach  fencing,  dancing,  and  hair-dressing. 

The  crime  of  France  had  been  great ;  its  retribution  was 
fearful.  All  the  defeats  sustained  by  France  in  the  field, 
from  Blenheim  and  Oudenarde  to  Waterloo  and  Sedan, 
did  not  do  it  the  harm  that  it  suffered  from  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  Hufjuenots.  Half  of  the  best  blood  and  life  of 
the  people  was  gone ;  and,  instead  of  being  the  first  nation 
of  Europe,  France  has  been  obliged  to  give  way  before  the 
descendant  of  the  Elector  of  the  little  State  of  Branden- 
burg, which  received  her  exiles. 


JOUN    WEtSLEY   Ai^'D   iiltS   TIMES.  351 


xir. 

JOHN  WESLEY  AND  HIS   TBIES. 

§1.  Early  Life  of  ]Vcslcy.  Ills  Parents.  Oxford.  —  The 
name  given  to  a  denoniiuation  or  party  is  very  often  a 
nickname  or  word  of  reproach.  It  seklom  expresses  the 
true  character  of  the  body.  The  Society  of  Friends  were 
called  Quakers,  not  because  they  themselves  trembled  but 
because  they  made  others  tremble.  So  the  followers  of 
Wesley  were  called  Methodists,  from  the  methodical  ways 
which  he  and  his  companions  practised  before  he  became  a 
Methodist.  No  name  could  be  less  appropriate  to  a  peo- 
ple who  from  the  first  were  spontaneous,  free,  unfettered 
by  rules,  living  apart  from  old  methods  in  religion.  Wes- 
ley and  his  companions  founded  a  body  who  were  Meth- 
odists only  in  the  sense,  that  in  order  to  save  souls  they 
were  willing  to  adopt  any  methods,  however  unusual,  — 
such  as  lay-preaching,  out-of-door  preaching,  camp-meet- 
ings, and  otlier  ways  in  religion  considered  to  be  most 
irregular,  and  often  thought  improper. 

John  Wesley  came  of  a  strong  stock.  His  father,  grand- 
father, great-grandfather,  and  his  mother's  father  were  min- 
isters who  had  been  ejected,  imprisoned,  and  persecuted  for 
their  dissent.  Non-conformity  and  independence  of  mind 
ran  in  the  blood.  His  f\\ther  and  mother  were  dissenters 
from  the  dissenters,  having  each  gone  back  into  the  Estab- 
lished Church  from  conviction  and  principle.     Both  had 


352         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

taken  this  step  when  children.  His  father  was  in  conse- 
quence deprived  of  support  from  his  friends  and  went  to 
Oxford  with  two  pounds  and  sixteen  shillings,  but  there 
contrived  to  maintain  himself  till  he  graduated. 

John  Wesley  was  born  June  17,  1703,  at  Epworth,  in 
Leicestershire.  When  he  was  six  years  old  the  house  was 
set  on  fire  by  some  persons  who  were  offended  with  his 
father,  who  was  the  rector  of  the  place,  for  rebuking  their 
profligate  habits.  After  the  children  had  been  brought 
out,  it  was  discovered  that  little  John  was  left  behind  in 
the  burning:  buildincr.  He  could  not  be  reached  throuo'h 
the  door  on  account  of  the  flames,  but  he  contrived  to 
climb  up  to  a  window  and  was  lifted  out.  The  memory  of 
this  event  remained  deeply  fixed  in  the  minds  of  both 
mother  and  son.  They  pondered  it  in  their  hearts,  and 
the  boy  seemed  as  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning  and 
reserved  for  great  things. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  John  Wesley  went  to  Oxford 
University,  where  he  was  especially  distinguished  for  his 
looical  attainments  and  skill.  At  this  time  he  deter- 
mined  to  enter  the  ministry.  Ilis  mother  wrote  to  him  in 
reference  to  his  pleasures  :  — 

"  Would  you  judge  of  the  lawfulness  or  unlawfulness  of 
pleasure,  take  this  rule  :  Whatever  weakens  your  reason,  im- 
pairs the  tenderness  of  your  conscience,  obscures  your  sense 
of  God,  or  takes  off  your  relish  for  spiritual  things,  —  in  short, 
which  increases  the  strength  and  authority  of  your  body  over 
your  mind,  —  that  thing  is  sin  to  you,  however  innocent  in 
itself" 

The  books  which  most  interested  and  influenced  Wesley 
at  this  time  were  Thomas  a  Kempis  on  "  The  Imitation 
of  Christ,"  and  Jeremy  Taylor  on  "  Holy  Living  and 
Dying,"  —  two  marvellous  volumes^  if  we  consider   how 


JOHN   WESLEY   AND    HIS   TIMES.  353 

much  good  they  have  douc  and  are  still  doing  in  tlie 
world. 

Most  persons,  moved  hy  a  deep  religious  spirit,  who 
effect  great  revolutions  and  religious  movements  have 
come  from  humljle  life.  Luther's  fatlier  was  a  miner, 
Jeanne  d'  Arc  was  a  ])easant  girl,  George  Fox's  father  was 
a  weaver ;  but  Wesley  descended  from  ancestors  educated 
if  not  ricli.  They  were  a  race  of  martyrs.  Tliey  were 
imprisoned,  ejected,  and  persecuted  for  their  opinions. 
Both  his  grandfathers  had  dissented  from  the  Estab- 
lished Church ;  both  his  parents  dissented  back  again 
into  it,  from  conviction.  It  was  his  own  fate  to  leave 
it  again,  though  unwillingly. 

His  mother,  Susannah  Annesley,  was  a  remarkable  wo- 
man. Many  traits  of  independence  are  recorded  concern- 
ing her.  Her  father  was  a  distinguished  dissenter.  When 
a  child  she  was  a  sceptic.  Then  she  was  converted  and 
joined  the  Englisli  Church ;  but  she  \vas  no  formalist. 
During  her  husband  s  absences  she  read  prayers  and  ser- 
mons to  her  family.  The  neighbors  came  in  to  hear  her, 
and  some  persons  complained  to  her  husband.  He  wrote 
to  her  and  told  her  that  wliat  she  was  doing  "  looked  par- 
ticular." She  replied  :  "  All  earnest  religion  looks  particu- 
lar." The  curate  was  jealous  of  her  influence,  and  wrote 
to  her  husband  that  his  wife  had  "  a  conventicle  "  in  his 
house.  This  word  had  its  effect,  and  the  rector  wrote 
again  to  his  wife  more  earnestly  desiring  her  to  cease  her 
meetings.  She  answered  that  she  would  do  so  if  he  would 
so  conmiand.  She  then  showed  him  the  good  her  meetings 
were  doing,  and  the  harm  which  would  come  from  discon- 
tinuing them.  "  If  you  see  fit,  after  all,"  said  she,  "  to  dis- 
solve these  assemblies,  send  your  positive  commands.  Your 
desire  will  not  satisfy  my  conscience.  Command  me  in 
such  full  and  explicit  terms  as  may  absolve  me  from  guilt 

23 


354  EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   KELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

when  you  and  I  appear  before  the  great  and  awful  tribunal 
of  Christ."  This  was  the  end  of  it ;  he  did  not  again  ask 
her  to  stop.  In  this  little  incident  we  have  the  history  of 
her  son  John  anticipated. 

When  twenty-three  John  Wesley  was  ordained  a  priest 
of  the  English  Church,  and  elected  a  Fellow  of  Lincoln 
College.  His  fellowship  gave  him  a  small  salary,  and  this 
was  his  support  during  a  great  part  of  his  life.  He  passed 
mucii  of  his  time  in  study  and  prayer.  He  had  few  com- 
panions ;  but  a  serious  man  one  day  said  to  him :  "  Sir ! 
you  wish  to  serve  God.  Eemember,  you  cannot  serve  him 
by  yourself.  You  must  find  companions  or  make  them. 
The  Bible  knows  nothing  of  solitary  religion."  The  re- 
ligious society  which  he  needed  was  prepared  for  him  at 
Oxford  during  his  absence  at  Epworth,  where  he  acted  for 
a  while  as  his  father's  curate.  His  brother  Charles  whom 
he  left  at  Oxford,  and  who,  when  John  came  away,  was 
not  very  devout,  saying  he  did  "  not  wish  to  be  a  saint 
all  at  once,"  had  suddenly  been  awakened,  and  with  one  or 
two  other  religious  young  men  had  formed  a  society  to 
meet  together  in  order  to  pray  and  improve  the  members. 
This  excited  the  ridicule  of  their  fellow-collegians,  and 
they  were  called  Bible  Bigots,  Bible  Moths,  the  Holy  Club, 
and  at  last  Methodists.  This  name  adhered  to  the  Wesleys 
and  their  Society  long  after  Methodism  had  become  a  very 
different  affair  from  what  it  was  at  Oxford.  When  John 
Wesley  returned  to  Oxford  he  joined  this  club.  White- 
field  also  became  a  member;  and  Hervey,  author  of  "Med- 
itations among   the  Tombs,"  was  another. 

At  this  time  Wesley  was  very  serious,  and  very  punctual 
in  all  the  duties  of  religion  according  to  his  Church  obli- 
gations. He  was  a  zealous  churchman.  This  Oxford 
Methodism  was  not  really  Methodism,  but  resembled  much 
more  the  Ptitualism  which  sprang  up  in  the  same  place  a 


JOHN   WESLEY  AND   HIS  TIMES.  355 

hundred  years  later.  It  laid  great  stress  on  fastin«,'s, 
regular  prayers,  and  weekly  sacraments ;  and  Wesley 
allerwards  thought  that  lie  was  no  Christian  at  that  time, 
but  seeking  justification  by  the  law,  und  in  a  state  of 
great  spiritual  ignijrance.  Yet  who  can  doubt  that  "  the 
Law  is  the  School-master  to  bring  us  to  Christ."  Perhaps 
Paul  was  prepared  to  receive  the  gospel  with  so  intense  a 
faith  because  he  had  been  previously  seeking  justification 
faithfully  by  Jewish  methods ;  perhaps  Luther  was  pre- 
pared by  his  monkish  austerities  for  a  deeper  religious  life, 
which  he  afterwards  found  in  Christ  and  the  gospel ;  and 
perhaps  Wesley  was  prepareil,  by  pmctising  all  the  rules  of 
piety  and  morality  which  his  Church  enjoined,  for  that 
higher  dispensation  of  truth  which  he  afterwards  received. 
All  honest  and  conscientious  efforts  to  do  right  open  the 
way  for  a  deeper  and  fuller  religious  experience  in  the  end. 
But  the  heads  of  the  college  did  not  interest  themselves 
in  such  speculations.  They  did  not  object  to  the  Godly 
Club  as  beint;  too  lecjal,  but  as  bein^r  too  relit^jious  for  a 
literary  institution.  They  held  a  meeting  to  consider  in 
what  manner  the  evil  might  be  checked.  College  pro- 
fessors and  tutors  in  those  days  were  apt  to  consider  the 
chief  danger  in  religion  to  lie  in  the  direction  of  enthu- 
siasm, of  being  righteous  overmuch,  of  being  singular, 
of  going  too  fast  and  too  far,  of  laying  upon  one's  self 
unnecessary  burdens,  of  being  too  precise.  Such  charges 
were  brought  against  the  Club.  Wesley  admitted  that  he 
was  singular,  but  absolutely  denied  that  he  was  singular 
without  a  reason.     He  said  :  — 

"  1  am  ready  to  give  a  reason  for  evt-iv  custom  wherein  I 
differ  from  otiicrs.  As  to  my  being  formal,  if  that  meana 
that  I  am  not  easy  and  unaffected  in  my  manners,  it  is  true  ; 
but  how  can  I  help  it  1  If  it  means  that  I  am  serious,  this 
too  is  true  ;  but  why  should  I  help  it  ? " 


356         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

People  said  that  his  singularity  would  cost  him  fortune, 
friends,  and  reputation.     He  rejoined :  — 

"  As  to  my  fortune,  I  well  know,  though  perhaps  others  do 
not,  that  I  could  not  have  borne  a  larger  one.  For  friends, 
they  are  either  trifling  or  serious  ;  if  trifling,  Fare  thee  well !  a 
noble  escape ;  if  serious,  those  who  are  more  serious  are  left. 
As  for  reputation,  it  is  a  glorious  instrument  for  advancing 
God's  service ;  bat  there  is  a  better  than  that,  —  a  clean  heart, 
a  single  eye,  and  a  soul  full  of  God." 

The  reasons  which  led  Wesley  at  this  time  to  refuse  to 
go  to  Epworth  to  become  the  successor  of  his  father  in  the 
rectorate,  and  to  prefer  to  remain  at  Oxford,  mark  the 
difference  between  his  state  of  mind  then  and  his  subse- 
quent feelings.  He  was  afraid  of  taking  care  of  two  thou- 
sand souls  at  Epworth.  He  said :  "  I  see  not  how  any 
man  living  can  take  care  of  a  hundred."  Afterward,  con- 
vinced that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  saving  his  own 
soul,  that  it  was  to  be  saved  by  Christ,  he  was  able  to  cast 
himself  freely  into  the  work  of  his  Master ;  but  at  this 
time  he  was  afraid  of  the  world  and  its  temptations ;  he 
was  afraid  of  lukewarm  Christians,  of  the  good  sort  of 
men  who  stole  away  his  fervor.  "  I  never  come  from 
among  these  saints  of  the  w^orld,"  said  he,  "  but  I  say, '  God 
deliver  me  from  a  half  Christian  ! '  " 

§  2.  Goes  to  America.  The  Moravians.  His  New  View 
of  Faith. —  In  1735,  when  Wesley  was  thirty-two,  his  father 
died.  Going  to  London  to  publish  a  posthumous  work  of 
his  father,  application  was  made  to  him  by  Oglethorpe 
and  others  to  go  out  as  a  preacher  to  their  new  colony  in 
Georgia,  to  preach  to  the  settlers  and  Indians.  He  refused 
to  go,  on  the  ground  that  his  mother  was  dependent  on 
him,  and  that  he  ought  not  to  leave  her.  "  If  your  mother 
will  consent,"  asked  they,  "will  you  go  ?"  He  answered, 
"Yes,"  not  expecting  that  she  would  do  so;  but  the  noble 


JOHN    WESLEY    AND    HIS   TIMES.  357 

woman  said,  "  Had  I  twenty  sons,  I  should  rejoice  though  all 
were  so  employed,  and  though  I  never  saw  them  more."  He 
thought  it  might  take  him  iarther  from  tlie  temptations  of 
the  world,  antl  so  be  a  good  thing.  A  worldly  man  called 
him  Quixotic.  "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  if  the  Bible  is  not  true,  I 
am  iis  very  a  fool  and  madman  as  you  think  ;  but  if  it  be  of 
God,  1  am  sober-minded.  For  it  says:  '  Tliere  is  no  one 
who  has  left  father  and  mother,  wife  and  kindred,  for  my 
sake  and  the  gospel's,  but  shall  receive  more  in  lliis  life, 
and  life  everlasting  hereafter.' "  Charles  Wesley  went 
with  him.  "  Our  end  in  leaving  our  native  land,"  said 
they,  "  was  not  to  avoid  want  nor  to  gain  the  dross  of 
worldly  honor,  but  simply  this, —  to  save  our  souls." 

He  embarked  Oct.  14,  1735.  There  was  a  party  of  Mo- 
ravians on  board.  From  them  he  learned  that  there  was  a 
religious  experience  which  he  had  not  yet  reached,  but 
which  they  all  enjoyed  and  regarded  as  essential.  He 
asked  the  advice  of  their  pastor  about  his  own  preaching. 
"  My  brother,"  said  the  Moravian,  "  I  must  first  ask  you 
one  or  two  questions  :  Have  you  the  witness  within  your- 
self? Does  the  Spirit  of  God  bear  witness  with  your 
spirit  that  you  are  a  child  of  God  ? "  "I  was  surprised," 
said  Wesley,  "  and  knew  not  what  to  answer.  He  saw  it 
and  asked,  *  Do  you  know  Jesus  Christ  ? '  I  said  that  I 
knew  he  was  the  Savior  of  the  world.  '  True  ;  but  do  you 
know  that  he  has  saved  you  ? '  I  answered,  *  I  hope  he 
has  died  to  save  me.' "  But  Wesley  felt  and  saw  that 
these  Moravians  had  an  inward  assurance  of  pardon  and 
peace  with  God  to  which  he  was  a  stranger,  and  he  was 
humble  and  sincere  enough  to  be  willing  to  sit  at  the  feet 
of  these  poor  Germans,  and  be  taught  l)y  them  the  first 
principles  of  the  gospel.  After  reaching  Georgia  he  lodged 
with  the  Moravians  and  had  an  opportunity  of  watching 
their  whole  beliavior.     They  were  always  employed,  always 


358  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

cheerful  and  good-humored.  The  simplicity  and  solemnity 
of  their  meetings  made  him  fancy  himself  in  one  of  the 
assemblies  of  the  primitive  Christians,  when  form  and 
state  were  not.  The  Moravians  became  very  dear  to  him. 
There  was  something  wonderful  to  him  in  their  faith. 
When  they  were  on  shipboard  there  was  a  violent  storm. 
While  the  passengers  were  singing  a  hymn  a  sea  broke 
over  the  vessel,  covered  the  ship,  and  poured  down  upon 
those  in  the  cabin.  The  English  shrieked,  but  the  Mora- 
vians sang  calmly  on.  Wesley  asked  one  afterward : 
"  Were  you  not  afraid  ? "  He  replied  :  "  I  thank  God 
no!"  "But,"  added  Wesley,  "  were  not  your  women  and 
children  afraid  ? "  He  answered  mildly  :  "  Our  w^omen 
and  children  are  not  afraid  to  die." 

Wesley  stayed  in  Georgia  one  year  and  nine  months. 
He  was  unwearied  in  his  duties  as  a  preacher,  but  his  suc- 
cess was  not  great.  With  the  Indians  he  could  do  very 
little.  One  Indian  said  :  "  Christians  much  drunk  !  Chris- 
tians beat  men  !  Christians  tell  lies  !  Devil  Christian  J 
Me  no  Christian  ! "  Wesley  also  taught  school  in  Georgia, 
and  an  anecdote  is  told  of  his  tact.  The  boys  in  the 
school  who  wore  shoes  and  stockin^^s  thouoht  themselves 
better  than  those  who  went  barefoot.  So  Wesley  himself 
went  to  school,  one  day,  barefoot.  The  boys  stared.  He 
took  no  notice  of  their  astonishment ;  but  the  unshod  party 
were  much  consoled,  and  the  others  humbled. 

In  December,  1737,  he  left  Georgia  to  return  to  Eng- 
land, and  arrived  just  as  Whitefield  was  sailing  for  Amer- 
ica. Wesley  says  :  "  I  w^ent  to  America  to  convert  others, 
but  who  shall  convert  mc  t "  Three  advantages,  however, 
he  reckoned  to  have  gained  by  this  voyage.  He  had 
been  humbled  and  proved ;  he  had  learned  his  own  want 
of  faith ;  and  he  had  become  acquainted  with  the  Mora- 
vians. 


JOHN   WESLEY   AND    HIS   TIMES.  359 

On  reaching  London,  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  tliat  he 
was  not  a  believer  in  Christ  in  the  best  sense,  Wesley 
sought  out  the  Moravians ;  and  from  one,  Peter  P>oehler, 
he  gained  new  light.  Wesley  when  at  Oxford  had  delined 
Faith  to  be  "  an  assent  to  any  truth  upon  reasonal)le 
grounds;"  but  now  he  agreed  fully  with  Boehler's  detini- 
tion :  "  A  sure  trust  and  confidence  which  a.  man  has  in 
God,  that  througli  the  merits  of  Christ  his  sins  are  forgiven 
and  lie  reconciled  to  the  favor  of  God."  Tlie  main  point, 
they  said,  was  "inward  assurance;"  also  "instantaneous 
assurance,"  for  it  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  what  God  gives 
he  gives  at  once.  Wesley  was  conscious  that  he  had 
not  this  faith,  yet  he  continued  to  preach  it  in  tlie  English 
churches  as  something  which  was  necessary,  and  to  hope 
that  lie  would  himself  receive  it  in  due  season.  He 
preached  the  need  of  an  entire  conversion  even  for  those 
baptized  and  educated  in  the  Church ;  and  in  consequence 
of  these  doctrines  he  was  frequently  told  that  he  should 
not  be  allowed  to  preach  again  in  places  where  he  had 
thus  taught.  The  Moravians  in  London,  with  the  remains 
of  the  Oxford  Methodists,  now  formed  tliemselves  into 
a  society.  They  met  in  little  bands,  or  companies,  of  not 
less  than  five  nor  more  than  ten,  to  speak  freely  of  the 
state  of  tlieir  souls  to  each  other.  Every  Wednesday  they 
all  met  together  to  have  a  conference,  with  prayer  and 
hymns. 

Charles  Wesley  attained  this  new  faitli  when  he  was 
thirty-five  years  old.  John  also  found  faith  a  little  later, 
May  24,  1738.  He  went  that  day,  rather  unwillingly,  to  a 
meeting  of  a  society  where  a  man  was  reading  Luther's 
"  Commentary  on  the  Romans."     Says  Wesley  :  — 

"  About  a  quarter  before  nine,  while  he  was  describing  the 
change  which  God  works  in  the  heart  throuLrh  faith  in  Christ, 
I  felt  my  own  heart  strangely  warmed.     I  felt  that  I  dul  trust 


360  EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS  IN   EELIGIOUS   HISTOEY. 

in  Christ,  in  Christ  alone,  for  salvation;  and  an  assurance 
was  given  me  that  he  had  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine, 
and  saved  me  fiom  the  law  of  sin  and  death.  I  began  to 
pray  with  all  my  might  for  those  who  had  in  a  more  special 
manner  despitefully  used  me  and  persecuted  me.  I  then 
testified  openly  to  all  there  present  of  what  I  then  felt  in  my 
heart." 

This  feeling  of  joy  and  repose  did  not,  however,  remain 
undisturbed,  and  Wesley  came  to  the  belief  that  true 
faith  does  not  prevent  us  from  having  moods  of  occasional 
despondency  and  temptation. 

His  present  belief  was  very  different  from  his  former 
one.  The  Church  system  taught :  "  If  one  is  baptized  and 
attends  on  Church  ordinances,  if  he  obeys  the  law  of  God 
and  strives  to  pray  and  to  live  rightly,  God  through  these 
outward  means  will  save  his  soul."  Wesley's  new  belief 
was :  "  If  one  will  feel  his  utter  helplessness  and  inability 
to  do  right,  and  will  then  have  faith  in  God,  God  will  give 
him  in  his  heart  an  assurance  of  pardon  and  safety.  God 
will  enable  him  thenceforth  to  conquer  his  sins  instead  of 
being  overcome  by  them."  "  No  merit,  no  gooduess  in 
man,"  said  Wesley,  "  precedes  the  forgiving  love  of  God. 
God's  pardoning  mercy  supposes  nothing  in  us  but  a  sense 
of  sin  and  misery ;  and  to  all  who  see  and  feel  and  own 
their  sins,  and  their  utter  inability  to  remove  them,  God 
will  give  this  faith." 

Between  Wesley's  new  system  and  his  former  one  there 
was  as  irreconcilable  an  antagonism  as  between  Luther's 
doctrine  and  that  of  the  Catholics.  No  wonder  that  he 
was  so  speedily  excluded  from  the  churches ;  no  w^on- 
der  that  when  he  told  his  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutton, 
that  he  had  been  a  Christian  only  live  days,  one  of  them 
should  say,  "  Take  care,  Mr.  Wesley,  how  you  despise  the 
benefits    received   from   the   two   sacraments ; "   and   the 


JOHN   WESLEY   AND    IIIS   TIMES.  361 

other,  ratlier  petulantly  and  illogically,  "  If  you  were  not 
a  Christian  before,  you  were  a  great  hypocrite,  for  you 
always  made  us  believe  that  you  were  one." 

§  3.  The  Farting  of  the  Ways.  His  Neio  System.  —  This 
was  the  parting  of  the  ways.  From  this  time  Wesley 
commenced  thai  new  and  great  career  which  made  him 
the  reformer  of  England,  the  regenerator  of  the  English 
Church,  and  the  means  by  whicli  a  new  moral  impulse  was 
given  to  the  whole  English-speaking  people.  It  is  impos- 
sible not  to  see  that  this  new  conviction  concerning  Faith 
was  the  secret  of  his  power,  just  as  it  had  been  that  of 
Luther's.  Wesley  thus  expresses  himself  in  regard  to 
it:  — 

"  If  you  seek  salvation  by  faith,  you  may  expect  it  as  you 
arc  and  expect  it  now.  Tliero  is  an  inseparable  conuectiou  be- 
tween these  three  points,  —  expect  it  by  faith,  expect  it  as  you 
are,  and  expect  it  now.  To  deny  one  of  them  is  to  deny  all ; 
to  allow  one  is  to  allow  all.  Say  not,  '  I  cannot  be  accepted, 
because  I  am  not  good  enough.'  Who  is  good  enough,  —  who 
ever  was  good  enough  to  merit  acceptance  at  God's  hands  1 
Say  not,  '  I  am  not  contrite  enough  ;  I  am  not  sensible  enough 
of  my  sins.'  I  know  it ;  I  would  to  God  tliou  wert  more  sen- 
sible of  them  and  more  contrite  a  thousand-fold.  But  do  not 
stay  for  this.     It  may  be  God  will  make  thee  so." 

But  what  is  Faith  according  to  Wesley  ?  Not  an  opin- 
ion nor  any  nundier  of  opinions.  A  string  of  opinions  is 
no  more  Christian  faith  than  a  string  of  beads  is  Christian 
holiness.  A  man  may  assent  to  three  or  twenty-three 
creeds,  to  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  yet  have  no 
Christian  faith.  Faith  is  a  power  of  seeing  the  spiritual 
world.     It  is  the  eye  of  the  new-born  soul. 

"  No  merit,  no  goodness  in  man,  precedes  the  forgiving  love 
of  God.  His  pardoning  mercy  supposes  nothing  in  us  but  a 
sense  of  our  sin  and  misery ;  and  to  all  wlio  sec  and  feel  and 


362         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

own  their  wants  and  their  utter  inability  to  supply  them,  God 
freely  gives  faith.  Whosoever  thou  art,  0  man,  who  hast  the 
sentence  of  death  in  thyself,  unto  thee  saith  the  Lord,  not  '  Do 
this,  —  perfectly  obey  all  my  commands  —  and  live,'  but  '  Be- 
lieve in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  1 '  " 

After  his  doctrine  of  Faith  came  the  doctrine  of  Assur- 
ance. This  was  not  an  assurance  of  future  salvation,  but 
of  being  now  in  the  grace  of  God.  This,  Wesley  thought, 
was  the  common  privilege  of  all  Christians,  yet  he  be- 
lieved there  might  be  exceptions ;  some  really  having  the 
favor  of  God  might  go  mourning  all  their  days. 

Wesley  also  insisted  on  his  doctrine  of  Perfection.  He 
defined  perfection  to  be  a  constant  communion  with  God 
which  fills  the  heart  with  humble  love,  and  he  insisted 
that  to  this  every  believer  might  attain ;  yet  he  admitted 
that  it  did  not  include  the  power  of  never  thinking  a  use- 
less thought  or  speaking  a  useless  word.  Such  a  perfec- 
tion he  regarded  as  inconsistent  with  a  corruptible  body. 
"  I  want  you  to  be  all  love,"  said  he ;  "  this  is  the  perfec- 
tion I  believe  and  teach." 

Wesley  had  great  charity  for  difference  of  opinion.  He 
said :  — 

"  We  may  die  ignorant  of  many  truths,  and  yet  be  carried  to 
Abraham's  bosom  ;  but  if  we  die  without  love  what  will  knowl- 
edge avail  1  I  will  not  quarrel  with  you  about  any  opinion,  — 
only  see  that  your  heart  be  right  toward  God,  that  you  know 
and  love  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  love  your  neighbor,  and  walk 
as  your  Master  walked.  I  desire  no  more.  I  am  sick  of  opin- 
ions. I  am  weary  to  bear  them.  My  soul  loathes  this  frothy 
food.  Give  me  solid  and  substantial  religion  ;  give  me  a  hum- 
ble gentle  love  for  God  and  man,  a  life  full  of  mercy  and  good 
fruits,  without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy.  Let  my  soul 
be  with  such  Christians  as  these,  wherever  they  are  and  what- 
soever opinions  they  may  hold." 


JOHN    WESLEY   AND   HIS   TIMES.  363 

He  said  of  Pelagius  :  "  By  all  I  can  pick  up  from  ancient 
authors,  1  guess  he  was  both  a  wise  and  a  lioly  num."  He 
had  a  good  opinion  of  Servetus,  the  opposer  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  ;  and  he  i)ublished  the  Lile  of  a  Unitarian, 
Thomas  Firmin,  for  tlie  edification  of  his  own  followers. 
He  said:  "  I  formerly  thought  that  no  one  who  denied  the 
Trinity  could  be  really  pious ;  but  I  cannot  argue  against  a 
matter  of  fact.  I  dare  not  deny  that  Mr.  Firmin  was  a 
pious  man."  So  lie  tliouglit  that  tlie  heathen  would  be 
saved,  and  that  many  heathens  had  received  divine  revela- 
tions. All  this  showed  that,  though  Orthodox  himself,  he 
could  see  the  good  in  those  of  other  opinions. 

This  was  the  way  in  which  Wesley  formulated  to  his 
own  mind  the  new  convictions  which  were  the  source  of 
his  future  power,  and  of  the  vast  good  accomplished  by 
Methodism.  Many  tell  us  that  the  secret  of  Methodism  is 
that  it  appeals  to  the  feelings,  that  it  is  an  "  emotional  '* 
system.  True ;  but  how  does  it  reach  the  feelings  ?  In 
what  way  does  it  rouse  the  emotions  ?  It  is  by  present- 
ins:  such  a  view  of  the  divine  love  as  shall  make  it  seem 
near  to  every  soul,  by  bringing  all  men  to  see  that  the 
door  is  open  by  which  they  can  enter  at  once  into  the 
kingdom  nf  Heaven.  Faith  in  Christ,  according  to  this 
system,  does  not  mean  having  this  or  that  belief  about 
Christ,  but  it  means  trust  in  Christ's  revelation  of  God  as 
Father,  Friend,  Redeemer,  and  Savior.  When  one  actually 
believes  this,  it  must  create  emotion.  The  sight  of  the 
love  of  God  produces  an  answering  human  love;  but  this 
emotion  of  love  is  the  result  of  the  truth  seen,  — otherwise 
it  is  transient  and  ineffectual. 

Justification  ])y  Faith  was  the  doctrine  preached  by 
Paul,  by  Augustine,  by  Luther,  and  by  Wesley,  and  by 
this  preaching  each  of  them  began  a  new  era  of  religious 
lile  and  ]>rogress  ;  but  we  should  much  mistake  if  we  sup- 


364        EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

posed  this  to  be  only  a  theological  dogma  addressed  to  the 
understanding.  It  was  in  each  case  a  new  revelation  of 
the  divine  love  to  the  human  heart.  It  means  that  the 
Infinite  Father  of  the  human  race  is  not  merely  a  be- 
ing of  boundless  benevolence,  but  is  ready  to  become  the 
Friend  and  Savior  of  each  particular  soul  that  he  has 
made ;  it  means  that  in  every  soul,  small  or  great,  wise 
or  foolish,  virtuous  or  full  of  faults,  there  is  something  dear 
and  precious  to  the  Creator.  As  soon  as  this  fact  is  seen 
and  believed,  love  springs  up  spontaneously  in  the  heart, 
and  a  new  life  begins.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  Faith.  The 
doctrine  of  Assurance  simply  means  that  as  soon  as  we 
know  that  God  loves  us  we  feel  sure  of  pardon  and  safety. 
The  doctrine  of  Perfection  means  that  there  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  ever  cease  to  live  in  this  joyful  sense  of 
the  divine  nearness  to  our  heart,  no  reason  why  we  should 
not  "  live  in  the  spirit  and  walk  in  the  spirit "  of  grateful, 
humble  trust  and  gratitude. 

§  4.  Influence  of  his  Preaching.  The  New  Methods.  Field 
Precvching.  Lay  Preaching.  Itinerancy.  Class  Meetings.  — 
We  can  easily  see  what  a  vast  influence  such  preaching  must 
have  exercised  in  a  period  when  ethics  and  ritualism  con- 
stituted a  large  part  of  the  instruction  of  the  English  pulpit. 
The  gratitude,  love,  and  devoted  sympathy  of  thousands  of 
hearts  responded  to  this  teaching.  The  immediate  results 
which  followed  showed  that  it  was  the  truth  meu  needed 
to  hear.  The  careless  and  indifferent  were  roused  to  serious 
thought ;  reckless  sinners  were  brought  to  repentance ; 
anxious  souls  were  encouraged ;  the  hardened  were  made 
tender.  An  improvement  in  moral  character  followed  at 
once  from  this  new  faith.  Men  ceased  to  lie  and  steal,  to 
cheat  and  get  drunk.  These  effects  were  so  apparent  that 
it  was  impossible  for  Wesley  to  doubt  that  God  had  made 
him  an  instrument  to  bless  his  fellow-men.     He  had  put 


JOHN   WESLEY   AND   II IS   TIMES.  oG5 

his  hand  to  the  plough  and  must  not  go  back  ;  but  in  order 
to  go  forward  it  immediately  became  necessary  to  adopt 
new  methods.  Fortunately  Wesley  had  a  great  power  for 
organizing  his  work.  Thus  there  soon  came  tield-preach- 
ing,  lay-preacliing,  itinerant  preaching,  class-meetings,  love- 
feasts,  the  conlerences,  and  other  contrivances  to  meet 
emergencies  as  they  arose. 

All  this  time  Wesley  regarded  himself  as  a  priest  of 
the  Church  of  England.  He  never  wished  to  leave  that 
Church,  and  never  did  leave  it.  It  left  him  ;  it  refused 
to  let  him  stand  in  its  pulpits ;  it  oi)posed  and  stigmatized 
his  course  as  that  of  a  fanatic  and  enthusiast ;  but  it  does 
not  aj)pear  that  Wesley  ever  retaliated  or  did  anythiug 
which  showed  him  to  be  estiunged  from  the  Church  of 
England. 

Field-preaching  came  from  a  twofold  necessity.  Wesley 
preached  in  the  streets  and  fields  because  he  had  no  church 
in  which  to  preach,  and  also  because  people  would  come 
to  hear  him  in  the  lields  who  would  never  go  into  a  church. 
Whitefield  had  already  adopted  the  practice  of  liolding 
open-air  meetings.  To  Wesley's  conservative  feelings  this 
was  at  first  disagreeable. 

"  I  could  scarcely  reconcile  myself,"  he  writes,  "  to  this 
strange  way,  having  been  all  my  life  very  tenacious  of  every 
point  relating  to  decency  and  order  in  worship.  I  should  have 
tliought  the  saving  of  souls  almost  a  sin  if  not  done  in  a 
church." 

Though  Wesley  cared  for  the  form  of  religion,  he  cared 
more  for  the  substance.  Seeing  the  vast  good  done  by 
Whitefield,  he  also  adopted  the  practice  of  holding  meet- 
ings out  of  doors.  He  travelled  over  England,  preaching 
in  church-yards,  on  the  hill-sides,  by  the  ocean,  —  wher- 
ever people  would  come  to  hear.     This  was,  of  course,  con- 


366        EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

sidered  very  improper,  but  he  answered  the  objections 
thus :  — 

"  I  wonder  at  those  who  talk  of  the  indecency  of  field-preach- 
ing. The  worst  indecency  T  have  seen  was  at  St.  Paul's  Cathe- 
dral, where  people  were  sleeping  or  talking  during  the  service. 
The  highest  decency  in  worship  I  have  seen  in  a  field  or  a 
church-yard,  where  the  whole  congregation  behaved  as  if  thej'" 
saw  the  Judge  of  all  visibly  before  them." 

Sometimes,  when  he  had  finished  the  service,  no  one 
moved,  every  one  remaining  in  his  place.  Once  a  wall,  on 
which  people  were  sitting,  fell  down.  No  one  screamed, 
but  they  adjusted  themselves  quietly  to  their  new  location. 
The  charm  of  nature  assisted  the  impression  made  by  his 
words.  One  hot  summer  day  the  people  sat  on  the  grass 
under  a  grove  of  sycamores,  and  during  the  service,  the 
birds  sanf;  sweetlv  above  their  heads. 

"  At  Greenup,"  said  he,  "  I  stood  on  a  wall  in  the  calm,  still 
evening,  with  an  innumerable  company  behind,  before,  and 
around.  It  was  one  of  the  most  magnificent  spectacles  on  this 
side  Heaven.  No  music  on  earth  could  compare  with  the 
chorus  of  many  thousand  voices,  singing  the  praise  of  God  and 
the  Lamb." 

At  St.  Ives  he  stood  on  a  jutting  rock  above  the  sea, — 
the  ocean  rolling  on  one  side,  the  whole  population  of  the 
town  on  a  sloping  hill  before  him.  There  he  preached 
three  evenings,  and  while  the  people  sang,  the  roll  of  the 
ocean  made  an  undersong  of  worship.  Near  Newcastle  he 
preached  amid  the  ruins  of  the  vast  cathedral,  the  setting 
sun  streaming  through  the  broken  arches  and  ivy-covered 
windows.  At  Gowkham  his  church  was  the  side  of  an 
enormous  mountain,  where  the  concn-es^ation  sat  row  above 
row,  as  in  a  sylvan  theatre.  Once  he  had  the  ground 
measured  and  found  he  was  distinctly  heard  sixteen  rods ; 


JOHN    WESLKY    AND   HIS   TIMES.  367 

but  the  largest  audience  he  ever  addressed  was  at  Gwenap, 
where  he  spoke  to  thirty-two  thousand  people.  He  was 
then  seventy-six  years  old.^  In  1742  he  came  to  Epworth, 
his  native  i)lace,  where  he  offered  to  preach  in  his  lather's 
church,  but  the  curate  in  charge  wouhl  not  permit  it.  He 
therefore  attended  church  in  the  morning  as  a  hearer,  and 
listened  to  a  sermon  against  Enthusiasm.  At  six  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  he  preached  in  tlie  churcli-yard,  standing 
on  his  father's  tomb.  This  he  did  during  seven  successive 
evenings,  and  made  a  profound  impression.  One  man  wlio 
had  not  been  to  church  for  tliirty  years  came  to  Wesley  to 
ask  what  he  should  do  to  be  saved.  "Do  you  feel  tliat  you 
are  a  sinner?"  asked  Wesley.  "Yes,  —  sinner  enough," 
replied  the  penitent.  Meantime  the  curate,  who  was  one 
of  the  baser  sort,  was  full  of  rage,  declaring  that  if  Wesley 
came  to  the  communion  he  would  refuse  to  admit  him,  for 
he  was  not  fit  to  partake  of  that  sacrament. 

Thus  were  large  bodies  of  people  reached  who  before 
were  strangers  to  tlie  gospel.  "  The  common  people  heard 
him  gladly."  They  learned  with  joy  tliat  God  had  sent 
a  message  of  love  to  their  poor  sad  liearts,  and  would 
comfort  their  hard  lives.  Homes  before  filled  with  the 
sound  of  contention  and  oaths,  were  now  musical  with 
the  tender  liymns  of  Charles  Wesley.  Wherever  this  re- 
vival went  it  seemed  to  open  the  gates  of  Heaven  to  the 
poor,  the  sad,  the  broken-hearted,  the  ignorant,  tlie  vicious. 
Men  were  reformed  who  had  been  leading  bad  lives.  Some 
one  said  to  Wesley :  "  I  have  never  known  a  drunkard  to 
be  really  reformed."  "  I  thank  God,"  was  the  reply  of 
Wesley,  "  I  have  known  five  hundred."  Field- preaching 
was  in  reality  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  and  it 
called  up  from  death  to  life  tens  of  thousands  to  whom 

1  Dr.  FranJ<lin  says  that  "Whitefield  was  heard  by  thirty  thousand 
people  on  one  occasion. 


368         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

religion  was  before  only  a  name ;  for  these  were  the  days 
of  which  it  could  be  said :  — 

"  I  dreamed  a  dream,  last  Christmas  Eve, 
Of  a  people  whose  God  was  Make-Believe; 
A  dream  of  an  old  faith  shrunk  to  a  guess, 
And  a  Christian  Church  and  nation  and  press, 
Who  believed  they  believed  it,  —  more  or  less." 

The  second  new  method  of  administering  religion  intro- 
duced by  Wesley  was  that  of  Lay-preaching.  This  came  as 
a  matter  of  necessity,  for  the  bishops  refused  to  ordain 
men  for  this  work,  and  the  number  of  ordained  clergy- 
men who  sympathized  with  him  was  very  small.  .  Wesley, 
trained  to  believe  in  the  clergy  as  a  priesthood,  and  in  the 
apostolic  succession  of  bishops,  found  it  hard  to  bring  his 
mind  to  this  measure ;  but  if  his  societies  were  to  be  main- 
tained, he  must  make  use  of  laymen.  One  wise  bishop 
indeed  ordained  one  of  his  disciples,  saying :  "  I  ordain  you 
to  help  that  good  man  Mr.  Wesley,  that  he  may  not  kill 
himself  with  work  ; "  but  this  was  an  exception. 

When  we  look  back  to  the  origin  of  Christianity,  we  are 
surprised  that  there  should  ever  have  been  such  fear  of 
lay-preachers.  The  apostles  were  taken  from  their  nets 
and  work,  and  sent  out  to  preach  the  coming  gospel  with 
no  formal  consecration.  Christian  worship  was  modelled 
on  that  of  the  synagogue,  in  which  all  persons  present  were 
allowed  to  speak.  Jesus  took  the  roll  at  Nazareth,  and 
expounded  it.  In  one  passage  of  the  Book  of  Acts  we  are 
told  that  in  a  synagogue  in  Asia  Minor,  where  Paul  and 
Barnabas  were  present,  they  were  invited  by  the  rulers  of 
the  synagogue  to  preach  to  the  people,  though  they  were 
strangers  who  had  just  arrived.  The  "  Apostolic  Consti- 
tutions," a  book  favorable  to  clerical  pretensions,  says  :  "  If 
any  man,  even  a  layman,  be  skilled  in  the  expounding  of 
doctrines,  and  of  reputable  life,  let  him  teach ;  for  all  must 


JUlIN    WESLKY    AND    HIS   TIMES.  oliO 

be  taught  of  God."  Eusebius  tells  us  that  Origen  preached 
when  a  layman,  and  that  in  the  presence  of  bishops.  His 
statement  is  that  during  a  persecution  Origen  came  to 
Cajsarea.  There  he  was  requested  by  the  hishojjs  to  ex- 
pound the  Sacred  Scrii)tures  publicly  in  the  church,  though' 
he  had  not  yet  obtained  the  priesthood  by  the  imposition 
of  hands.  One  Demetrius  having  objected  that  this  was  a 
thing  unheard  of,  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  rejdied  that 
Demetrius  was  certainly  mistaken — "for  wherever  laymen 
are  found  qualified  to  benefit  the  brethren  they  are  invited 
by  the  bishojjS  to  address  the  people."' 

In  Wesley  there  were  two  elements.  He  wa.-^  naturally 
and  by  education  conservative  of  old  institutions  and  cus- 
toms ;  but  he  had  also  the  consummate  good  sense  which 
will  sacrifice  any  method,  however  valuable,  in  order  to 
gain  the  end  for  which  the  method  was  instituted,  llecall 
the  anecdote  of  his  mother  and  her  assembly  at  Ep worth. 
This  wise  and  excellent  woman  showed  a  like  spirit  in 
regard  to  lay-preaching.  Wesley  had  already,  as  a  matter 
of  absolute  necessity,  appointed  some  laymen  to  exhort 
and  expound  the  Scripture.  His  societies  could  not  other- 
wise have  been  maintained.  From  this  to  preaching  there 
was  a  short  stej)  in  fact,  but  a  very  long  one  according  to 
Wesley's  habits  of  thought.  The  first  man  to  overstep  the 
boundary  was  Thomas  Maxfield.  Fervent  in  s})irit  and 
mighty  in  the  Scri])tures,  he  greatly  profited  the  people  by 
his  preaching.  Wesley  was  alarmed,  and  hastened  to  Lon- 
don to  check  this  innovation.  His  mother,  who  had  In- 
come Maxfield's  adherent,  saw  that  her  son  was  displeased 
at  something,  and  asked  what  it  was.  "Thomas  Maxfield 
has  turned  preacher,  I  see,"  said  he.  "John,"  replied  his 
mother,  "you  know  my  sentiments,  —  take  care  what  you 
do  with  that  young  man.      He  is  as  certainly  called   to 

1  Eusebius  ;  Ecclcsinstical  History,  VI.  19. 
24 


370         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

preach  as  you  are  yourself.  Examine  the  fruits  of  his 
preaching  and  judge."  Wesley  heard  him  and  said:  "It 
is  the  Lord !  Let  him  do  as  seews  to  him  good."  Great 
objections  were  made  to  this  disorderly  proceeding.  Wesley 
said :  — 

"  In  ordinary  cases  it  is  true  that  both  an  inward  and  an 
outward  call  are  necessary,  but  there  is  something  far  from 
ordinary  in  the  present  case  ;  and  upon  the  calmest  view  of 
things  we  think  that  they  who  are  only  called  of  God  and  not 
of  man  have  more  right  to  preach  than  they  who  are  only  called 
of  man  and  not  of  God.  Now  that  many  of  the  clergy,  though 
called  of  man,  are  not  called  of  God  is  undeniable.  First, 
because  they  themselves  utterly  disclaim,  —  nay,  ridicule  the 
inward  call ;  secondly,  because  they  do  not  know  what  the 
gospel  is,  and  consequently  cannot  preach  it.  I  know  I  have 
not  gone  too  far  as  yet.  I  am  extremely  doubtful  whether  I 
have  gone  far  enough.  I  see  the  blind  leading  the  blind,  and 
both  falling  into  the  ditch.  Unless  I  warn  these  perishing  souls 
of  their  danger,  am  I  clear  of  their  blood  1  Soul-damning  clergy- 
men lay  me  under  more  difficulties  thau  soul-saving  laymen." 

This  dialogue  is  reported  to  have  taken  place  between 
Charles  Wesley  and  Dr.  Eobinson,  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

Bishop.     I  am  surprised  at  your  employing  laymen. 

Wesley.     It  is  your  fault,  my  Lord. 

Bisho}).     My  fault  % 

Wesley.  Yes,  —  yours  and  your  brethren's.  You  hold  your 
peace,  and  the  stones  cry  out. 

Bishop.     But  I  hear  they  are  unlearned  men 

Wesley.  True !  They  are,  in  general.  So  the  dumb  ass 
rebukes  the  prophet. 

Wesley,  however,  repelled  the  charge  of  ignorance 
brought  against  his  preachers  :  — 

"  In  the  one  thing  which  they  profess  to  know,  they  are  not 
ignorant  men.     I  trust  there  is  not  one  of  them  who  is  not  able 


JOHN   WESLEY  AND   HIS  TIMES.  371 

to  go  through  such  an  examination  in  suhstantial,  practical, 
experimental  divinity  as  few  of  our  camlidates  for  holy  orders, 
even  in  the  University  —  1  speak  it  with  sorrow  and  shame  — 
are  able  to  do." 

Wesley,  however,  always  exhorted  his  preachers  to  con- 
tinual study.  He  wrute  to  one  who  had  neglected  this 
means  of  improvement :  — 

"  Hence  your  talent  in  preaching  does  not  increase ;  it  is 
just  the  same  us  it  was  seven  years  ago.  It  is  lively  but  not 
deep ;  there  is  little  variety ;  there  is  no  compass  of  thought. 
Reading  alone  can  supply  this,  with  daily  meditation  and  daily 
prayer.  Whether  you  like  it  or  not,  read  and  pray  every  day. 
It  is  for  your  life  !  There  is  no  other  way  ;  else  you  will  be  a 
trifler  all  your  days,  and  a  pretty  superficial  preacher.  Do  jus- 
tice to  your  own  soul ;  give  it  time  and  means  to  grow ;  do  not 
starve  yourself  any  longer." 

He  was  very  happy  in  advising  and  directing  his 
preachers.  Sometimes  playful,  always  kind  and  reasonable, 
his  authority  over  them  was  unbounded.  One  declared, 
in  a  fit  of  low  spirits,  that  he  must  leave  off  preaching, 
as  he  thought  himself  out  of  his  place.  "  Dear  brother," 
said  Wesley,  "  you  are  out  of  your  place,  for  you  should  be 
praying ;  whereas  you  are  reasoning."  One  John  Furz 
heard  a  Methodist  say,  "There  are  two  witnesses,  now  dead 
and  buried  in  the  dust,  who  will  rise  in  judgment  against 
you ;  they  are  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  buried  in 
the  dust  on  your  shelf."  He  remembered  that  his  Bible 
was  covered  with  dust  and  that  lie  had  written  his  name 
on  the  back  witli  his  finger,  and  exclaimed  :  "  I  thought 
I  had  signed  my  own  danmation  on  the  back  of  the 
witnesses."     He  was  converted  and  became  a  preacher. 

Time  would  fail  me  to  speak  of  these  laymen, —  so 
strong,   so   devoted,  so  full  of  faith,  courage,  and   love. 


372  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Strong  souls  in  strong  bodies,  each  was  able  to  do  the 
work  of  two  or  three  common  men.  Used  to  hardship 
they  could  bear  cold  and  hunger,  want  of  sleep  and 
comfort.  Such  a  man  was  John  Thorpe,  who  was  con- 
verted while  drinking  with  others  in  an  ale-house,  and 
trying  for  fun  to  preach  like  the  Methodists.  He  was 
struck  to  the  heart  by  his  own  words  while  speaking.  - 
He  went  home  dissolved  in  tears,  and  became  a  preacher. 
Such  an  one  was  John  Pawson,  a  farmer's  son  who  heard 
the  Methodists  and  wished  to  join  them.  His  father  and 
mother  long  opposed  it,  but  by  their  son's  faith  were 
themselves  converted.  Such  a  man  was  Matlier,  a  Scotch- 
man, who  worked  all  day  in  a  bakery  and  yet  found  time 
to  preach.  Often,  he  said,  he  did  not  get  eiglit  hours' 
sleep  in  a  week.  He  went  round  with  the  bread  all  day  ; 
in  the  evening  he  preached ;  he  worked  preparing  the 
bread  half  the  night;  tlien  went  to  preach  again  at  five 
in  the  morning ;  at  half- past  six  he  went  back  again  to 
take  the  bread  out  of  the  oven,  —  and  then  began  once 
more  the  same  daily  round. 

Thomas  Olivers  was  a  Welshman.  Men  said  he  was  so 
earnest  in  prayer  that  it  seemed  as  if  he  would  die  on  the 
spot.  To  him  all  things  were  from  God.  He  took  his  daily 
food  as  though  it  were  the  Sacrament.  He  saw  God  in 
everything. 

The  Methodists  were  mobbed,  stoned,  driven  out  of  the 
towns,  put  into  prison  as  vagrants,  brought  before  the 
justices  on  the  ground  that  they  made  people  get  up  at 
five  in  the  morning  and  sing  psalms  all  day.  They  were 
exposed  to  the  perils  which  Paul  enumerates,  and  among 
these  the  perils  from  false  brethren.  Wesley  believed 
himself  obliged  to  separate  from  many  of  his  early  friends, 
—  from  William  Law  ;  from  Whitefield  and  the  Calvinistic 
Methodists ;  from  the  Moravians,  his  old  teachers ;  from 


JOHN   WESLEY   AND   HIS   TIMES.  373 

the  Antinomians ;  but  lie  did  not  become  bitter  nor  dog- 
matic nor  sectarian.  II is  serene  spirit  preserved  him  from 
these  temptations  to  which  greater  men  liave  yielded.  lie 
was  pursuing  unselfishly  a  work  given  liini  to  do  by  his 
Master.  This  kept  him  from  giving  way  to  any  personal 
jealousy,  envy,  or  uncharitableness. 

The  moral  effects  of  Methodism  were  everywhere  ap- 
parent. "  Are  there  any  drunkards  here  ?"  said  a  preacher. 
"Yes,  I  am  one,"  answered  a  poor  Irishman,  —  and  was 
induced  to  break  off  the  habit.  This  was  one  instance 
of  what  often  occurred. 

Some  of  the  Methodists  had  the  habit  of  plundering 
the  wrecks  on  the  coast  (as  w\as  done  by  other  people),  or 
received  the  plunder  from  the  wreckers.  One  of  the 
preachers  immediately  inquired  into  it  and  found  all  of 
the  societies  but  one  in  that  region  had  been  "  partakers 
of  the  accursed  thing."  He  preached  repentance  and 
restitution,  and  with  tears  read  out  of  the  society  sixty- 
three  members,  promising  to  restore  them  if  they  would 
make  restitution.  They  not  only  did  so,  but  others,  not 
belonging  to  the  society,  followed  their  example. 

The  third  point  of  practical  Methodism  was  the  Itiner- 
ant method.  This  also  was  a  necessary  and  consistent  part 
of  the  system.  If  there  were  lay-preachers  they  must  itin- 
erate. When  the  object  of  preaching  is  to  build  up,  instruct, 
and  edify,  then  there  must  be  educated  men  who  give  to  this 
work  all  their  time.  They  are  able  to  preach  constantly 
to  the  same  people.  If  the  main  object  is  to  convert 
sinners,  then  a  man  with  a  small  stock  of  learning  will 
answer,  but  on  the  condition  that  he  goes  from  place  to 
place.  Thus  his  sermons  will  be  always  new  and  interest- 
ing. Such  is  now  the  case  with  revival  preachers,  who 
never  stay  long  in  one  town.  It  was  so  with  Whitefield 
too,  who  had  a  very  sni:ill  stock  of  sermons  and  ideas,  but 
used  them  with  marvellous  power. 


374         EVENTS   AND    EPOCHS   IN    RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

Wesley  says,  arguing  for  the  necessity  of  frequent  change 
of  location  by  the  preachers :  — 

"  I  know  that  if  I  were  to  preach  one  whole  year  in  one 
place  I  should  preach  both  myself  and  my  congregation  asleep. 
Nor  can  I  ever  beheve  it  to  be  the  will  of  God  that  any  con- 
gregation should  have  only  one  teacher.  This  preacher  has 
one  talent,  —  that  one  has  another.  No  one,  whom  I  ever  yet 
knew,  had  all  the  talents  for  beginning,  continuing,  and  perfect- 
ing a  work  of  grace  in  a  congregation." 

Wesley  thought  a  preacher  ought  not  to  stay  more  than 
six  or  eight  weeks  with  the  same  people :  — 

"  He  cannot  find  matter  longer  than  this  for  preaching  every 
morning  and  evening,  nor  will  the  people  come  to  hear  him ; 
hence  he  will  not  get  up  to  preach  at  five.  Whereas,  if  he  never 
stays  more  than  a  fortnight  together  in  one  place,  he  may  find 
matter  enough,  and  the  people  will  gladly  hear  him." 

There  was  an  immense  gain  of  power  by  this  system. 
Instead  of  two  or  three  sermons  a  week  a  man  could 
preach  twelve  or  fifteen, — and  good  ones.  No  doubt  some- 
thing was  also  lost.  The  system  of  a  stationary  ministry 
would  not  have  been  so  general  if  there  had  not  been  great 
advantages  in  that  also  ;  but  for  Wesley's  purpose  the 
results  of  itinerancy  were  all-important. 

Another  very  essential  and  useful  part  of  the  Methodist 
organization  was  the  Class-meeting.  This  also  came  from 
an  emergency,  and  was  no  part  of  a  prearranged  plan. 
At  Bristol,  where  they  were  collecting  contributions  for  a 
church,  one  of  those  present  proposed  that  every  member 
should  give  one  penny  a  week.  It  was  objected  to  this 
that  all  might  not  be  able  to  pay  the  penny.  The  proposer 
then  added :  "  Let  one  unite  with  eleven  others  and  collect 
from  them  as  many  pence  as  he  can  each  week,  but  be  him- 


JOHN    WESLKY    AND    HIS   TIMKS.  375 

self  responsible  for  the  sllillin<,^  1  myself  will  be  one  of 
the  collectors."  In  going  about  among  them  to  collect  the 
pence  he  found  it  a  good  occasion  to  talk  with  them  about 
their  souls.  Then  it  was  found  convenient  to  meet  to- 
gether, and  so  there  came  tlie  clas.s-meeting  and  class- 
leaders.  Wesley  justly  considered  tliese  meetings  as  among 
the  most  important  of  his  instruments.  He  would  hardly 
admit  that  any  society  which  did  iKjt  maintain  them  was  a 
part  of  his  body.  In  fact  they  take  the  })lace  of  the  con- 
fessional in  the  .Roman  Catholic  Church,  having  its  privacy 
without  its  secrecy. 

§  5.  Opposition  to  Mcthodis7ii.  Persecution  of  the  Preach- 
ers. —  Something  must  be  said  of  the  opposition  to  Meth- 
odism by  the  clergy  and  the  rabble.  Nelson  was  pressed 
for  a  soldier ;  Wesley  himself  was  once  taken  by  the 
press-gang,  Ijut  finding  him  so  respectable  a  gentleman 
they  were  glad  to  let  him  go  again.  Many  absurd  calum- 
nies were  told  about  him.  He  was  said  to  have  been 
confined  for  selling  gin ;  to  be  a  Quaker,  a  Catholic,  an 
Anabaptist ;  to  be  going  to  join  tlie  Spaniards,  and  to  have 
hanged  himself.  He  and  his  followers  were  everywhere 
mobl)ed.  The  magistrates  sometimes  interfered  to  protect 
them,  but  more  often  allowed  the  mob  to  do  as  it  liked. 

There  were  at  Wednesbury,  during  a  space  of  four  or 
five  months,  riots  which  were  encouraged  by  magistrates, 
in  which  the  houses  of  the  Methodists  were  broken  open 
and  tlie  inmates  abused.  Wesley  heard  of  tliis  and  went 
directly  to  the  place.  He  was  a  man  used  to  look  danger 
in  the  face.  He  preached  at  midday  in  the  middle  of  the 
town,  and  there  was  no  disturbance.  The  people  met 
again  in  the  evening  and  were  awed  and  soothed  by  his 
calmness. 

Once,  when  Mather  was  prcacliing  at  Wolverhampton 
the  mob  pulled  down  the  preaching-house.     An  attorney 


376         EVENTS  AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

led  them  on  and  made  the  first  breach.  Mather  gave  him 
his  choice  of  rebuilding  it  at  his  own  expense,  or  being 
tried  for  his  life.  The  house  was  rebuilt,  and  there  were 
no  more  riots  in  that  place.  Mather  was  a  cool  and 
courageous  man,  tender-liearted  also,  and  charitable.  This 
is  the  account  which  he  gives  of  his  conversion :  — 

"  What  I  experienced  in  my  own  soul  was  an  instantaneous 
deliverance  from  all  those  wrong  tempers  and  affections  which 
I  had  long  and  sensibly  groaned  under.  From  that  moment  I 
found  an  unspeakable  pleasure  in  doing  the  will  of  God  in 
all  things.  I  had  also  the  power  to  do  it,  and  the  constant 
approbation  of  my  own  conscience.  Above  all  I  had  uninter- 
rupted communion  with  God  whether  sleeping  or  waking." 

I  must  say  a  word  of  another  of  Wesley's  lay-preachers, 
Thomas  Walsh,  an  Irishman  and  originally  a  Catholic.  He 
was  converted  at  a  Methodist  meeting. 

"And  now,"  says  he,  "I  felt  of  a  truth  that  faith  is  the 
substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things  not 
seen.  God,  and  the  things  of  the  invisible  world,  of  which  I 
had  only  heard  before  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  appeared  now 
in  their  true  light  as  substantial  realities.  Faith  gave  me  to 
see  a  reconciled  God  and  all-sufficient  Savior.  I  drew  water 
out  of  the  wells  of  salvation.  I  walked  and  talked  with  God 
all  day  long.  Whatsoever  I  believed  to  be  hiB  will  I  did  with 
my  whole  heart.  I  could  unfeignedly  love  those  who  hated 
me." 

He  often  studied  the  Bible  on  his  knees.  His  prayer 
was :  "  Lord  Jesus,  I  lay  my  soul  at  thy  feet  to  be  taught 
and  governed  by  thee.  Take  the  veil  from  this  mystery 
and  show  me  the  truth  as  it  is  in  thyself  Be  thou  my 
sun  and  star  by  day  and  by  night." 

Walsh  wore  himself  out  with  excessive  labors.  He 
lived  much  in  a  state  of  abstraction ;  he  walked  the  streets 


JOHN    WESLEY    AND    HIS   TIMKS.  377 

and  saw  notliing.  He  was  a  hard  student  of  the  Bible  in 
Hebrew  and  Greek.  If  a.skt'd  i'or  any  Hebrew  or  Greek 
words  lie  could  usually  tell  where  they  occurred,  how  often, 
and  what  they  meant  in  each  place.  He  rose  at  four 
o'clock  to  study.  His  friends  remonstrated,  but  he  said  : 
"Shall  a  man  rob  God  ?"  He  was  like  a  Catholic  saint, 
often  lost  in  glorious  raptuie  on  liis  knees,  —  his  face 
heavenward,  his  arms  clasped  around  his  Vjreast  in  such 
composure  that  he  could  scarcely  be  seen  to  breathe, 
and  his  soul  absorbed  in  God,  Something  like  a  serene 
splendor  was  seen  on  his  countenance  afterward.  Even  in 
sleep  his  soul  went  out  in  groans  and  tears  and  sighs  to 
God. 

§  6.  Great  Influence  of  Wesley.  Spread  of  Methodism. 
Benefit  of  this  Reform.  —  Amid  such  labors,  —  preaching 
every  morning  at  five  o'clock ;  travelling  on  horseback  or 
in  a  carriage  three  thousand  miles  every  year  ;  the  absolute 
head  of  the  large  and  ever  increasing  connection ;  meeting 
the  conferences ;  advising  preachers  ;  establishing  schools, 
and  writing  a  complete  set  of  books  for  them,  —  Wesley 
gradually  advanced  in  years.  He  retained  his  health  and 
strength  wonderfully.  At  eighty-two  he  believed  himself 
as  strong  and  as  able  to  labor  as  at  twenty-one.  He 
continued  his  circuits  and  preaching  to  the  last.  He 
attributed  his  health,  under  God,  to  his  habit  of  early 
rising  and  preaching  every  morning  at  five,  to  his  taking 
so  much  e.xercise  every  year,  and  his  temperate  mode  of 
life.  No  doubt  his  serenity  and  peace  of  mind,  and  his 
constant  occupation  with  the  best  kind  of  labor,  con- 
tributed not  a  little  to  this  result.  He  was  the  hap- 
piest man  alive  if,  as  has  been  said,  "  Power  and  aim 
are  the  two  halves  of  human  felicity."  He  had  as  con- 
temporaries many  distinguished  men  ;  but  wliose  career, 
if  usefulness  is  the  test,  could  be  compared  with  his  ? 


378  EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

Wesley  might  have  truly  felt  as  if  he  were  a  power 
sent  by  God  to  create  souls,  when  he  looked  around  on 
his  large  body  of  itinerants  and  lay-preachers,  and  remem- 
bered what  sort  of  men  they  had  been,  —  how  many 
had  been  profligate,  ignorant,  and  wicked,  and  now  were 
full  of  the  most  ardent  piety ;  with  active  minds,  so 
earnest,  holy,  and  self-denying ;  such  tender-hearted  men. 
He  might  well  apply  to  himself  the  sacred  text ;  for 
through  his  agency  the  blind  received  their  sight,  the 
lame  walked,  the  lepers  were  cleansed,  the  deaf  heard, 
the  dead  were  raised,  and  the  poor  had  the  gospel  preached 
unto  them.  This  flame  of  piety,  the  fiery  influence  which 
produced  such  changes,  so  refining  the  rude  and  enlight- 
ening the  ignorant,  reminds  one  of  that  geological  change 
in  what  are  called  metamorphic  rocks,  where  a  stream  of 
melted  lava  changes,  by  its  intense  heat,  coarse  limestones 
into  beautiful  marbles,  and  clay  into  jasper. 

The  Scripture  comparison  of  a  moral  truth  to  a  seed  is 
one  which  seems  to  lie  in  tlie  very  nature  of  things.  As 
a  oTcat  tree  "rows  from  a  small  seed,  so  a  vast  institution 
when  traced  back  to  its  origin,  is  often  found  to  have 
come  with  all  its  details  from  a  conviction  in  some 
obscure  mind.  Thus  the  Eeformation,  which  rent  asunder 
the  Universal  Church,  came  from  a  living  belief  in  the 
soul  of  Luther;  so  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  has  fought 
the  battles  of  the  lioinan  Church  on  every  continent  and 
beaten  back  the  rising  tide  of  the  Eeformation,  grew  out 
of  a  conviction  in  the  mind  of  Loyola ;  so  the  Society  of 
Friends,  with  its  lofty  testimony  for  worship  in  spirit  and 
truth,  for  peace,  for  simplicity  and  purity,  came  from  a  seed 
in  the  heart  of  George  Fox ;  and  so  Methodism  was  born 
when  John  Wesley  caught  sight  of  a  new  doctrine  con- 
cerning Faith.  And  "  to  every  seed  its  own  body."  The 
doctrine  of   the  inner   light  grew   up   naturally   into   the 


JOHN   WESLEY   AND   HIS   TIMES.  370 

Quaker  protest  against  all  outward  authority,  —  a.f:,^ainst 
the  authority  of  the  Cliurch,  the  Scripture,  the  Ministry, 
the  Sacraments,  worldly  customs  and  fashions.  But  the 
Methodist  doctrine  of  divine  love  in  the  heart  ruslied  out 
into  a  great  sympathetic  movement,  which  swept  into 
its  vortex  of  affection  vast  nudtitudes  who  cared  little 
about  tlie  Quaker  criticisms  or  the  Quaker  individualism. 
The  doctrine  of  an  inward  light  created  the  Society  of 
Friends ;  the  doctrine  of  an  inward  lore  created  the 
Methodist  communion  ;  and  as  men  care  more  for  affection 
than  for  thought,  as  the  heart  easily  feels  by  sympathy 
what  the  head  is  slow  to  attain,  it  was  in  the  nature  of 
things  that  the  growth  of  Methodism  should  far  surpass 
tluit  of  Quakerism. 

The  rapid  and  wide  prevalence  of  the  Methodist  denomi- 
nation is  indeed  one  of  the  great  events  in  religious 
history.  Wesley  was  converted  to  his  new  faith  in  May, 
1738.  A  hundred  and  fifty  years  have  not  passed  since 
that  time,  but  into  what  a  great  tree  has  that  little  seed 
grown,  —  one  in  which  all  the  birds  of  the  air  can  buikl 
their  nests. 

It  is  stated  that  in  England  at  the  present  time  the 
different  Methodist  connections  have  five  thousand  minis- 
ters and  a  million  church-members.  In  our  own  country 
its  success  has  been  still  greater,  for  by  the  census  of 
1870  it  had  twenty-five  thousand  churches  and  a  following 
of  four  or  five  millions,  being  nnich  the  largest  religious 
denomination  in  the  land. 

The  Methodist  church  has  been  not  merely  the  Church 
of  the  Mustard  Seed,  it  has  also  been  the  Church  of  the 
Leaven.  Its  spirit  has  gone  into  other  denominations  and 
imparted  to  them  new  life.  When  it  began  its  career  the 
religious  condition  of  Kngland  was  very  low.  "  Never," 
says  a  modern  writer,  "  has  there  been  a  century  in  Eng- 


380         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

land  so  void  of  faith  as  that  which  began  with  Queen 
Anne  and  ended  with  George  IL,  —  when  the  Puritans 
were  buried  and  the  Methodists  were  not  yet  born."  What 
must  have  been  the  state  of  things  when  Archdeacon 
Paley,  addressing  the  young  clergy  in  the  Diocese  of  Car- 
lisle, found  it  necessary  to  exhort  them  "  not  to  get  drunk, 
or  to  frequent  ale-houses,  ...  to  avoid  profligate  habits, 
.  .  .  not  to  be  seen  at  drunken  feasts  or  barbarous  diver- 
sions ; "  and  in  reading  the  service,  "  not  to  perform  it 
with  reluctance  or  quit  it  with  symptoms  of  delight." 
This  advice  was  not  unnecessary.  Dr.  Knox,  head-master 
of  Tunbridge  School,  says :  "  The  public  have  remarked 
wdth  indignation  that  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
coxcombs,  drunkards,  debauchees,  and  gamesters  who 
figure  at  watering-places,  are  young  men  of  the  sacerdotal 
order."  Arthur  Young  wrote  that  "  the  French  clergy 
are  more  decent  than  the  English ;  they  are  not  poachers 
or  fox-hunters  who  spend  the  morning  with  the  hounds, 
the  evening  at  the  bottle,  and  reel  from  drunkenness  into 
the  pulpit."  As  for  the  laboring  classes  they  were  left  to 
perish  uncared  for ;  no  man  cared  for  their  souls.  Meth- 
odism was  needed  ;  and,  in  the  Providence  of  God, 
Methodism  came. 

As  far  as  we  can  see,  it  saved  England  from  utter  moral 
corruption ;  but,  like  all  other  great  movements  for  the 
good  of  the  race,  it  was  received  with  dislike,  persecution, 
and  slander.  "The  literature  of  forty  years  overflowed 
with  ridicule  of  Methodism." 

§  7.  Wesley's  Conversion  from  Ritualism  the  Turning- 
-point in  his  whole  Career.  —  None  of  the  numerous  writers 
on  Methodism  seem  to  be  aware  of  the  gulf  which  sepa- 
rated Wesley's  early  and  later  forms  of  religion.  Even  his 
latest  Methodist  biographer,  Tyerman,  speaks  of  Methodism 
as  though  it  began  at  Oxford.     But  one  of  the  most  striking 


JOHN    WESLEY   AND    HIS   TIMES.  381 

features  of  this  whole  extraordinary  history  was  this,  that 
the  early  and  later  religious  systems  of  Wesley  were  radi- 
cally opposed  to  each  other,  —  so  opposite  that  he  himself 
always  declared  tliat  he  was  no  Christian  till  after  he  saw 
John  Boehler ;  and  yet  in  zeal,  sincerity,  devotion,  sacrifice, 
his  first  religious  life  was  like  his  last.  He  believed  essen- 
tially the  same  doctrines  in  both  ;  in  both  his  one  object 
in  life  was  religion ;  yet  the  difference  was  as  radical  as 
he  himself  declared  it  to  be.  From  the  time  he  went  to 
Oxford  until  he  met  the  Moravians,  his  object  was  to  save 
his  soul ;  after  that  time  his  purpose  was  to  save  the  souls 
of  others.  Under  the  first  dispensation  he  was  what  we 
now  call  a  Puseyite,  practising  austerities,  receiving  fre- 
quent sacraments,  secluding  himself  from  the  world.  He 
and  his  companions  read  the  prayers  of  the  Church  fre- 
quently, kept  all  its  holy  days,  slept  little,  ate  frugally, 
spent  an  hour  every  morning  and  evening  in  private 
prayer,  were  tenacious  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of 
the  Church  in  the  minutest  points,  scrupulously  strict 
in  observing  all  its  rubrics  and  canons.  "  We  were," 
said  Wesley  afterward,  "  in  the  strongest  sense  High 
Churchmen." 

It  seems  that  they  practised  Confession,  and  discussed 
the  propriety  of  mixing  water  with  the  sacramental  wine. 
Wesley  seriously  thought  of  forming  a  society  which  should 
strictly  observe  saints'  days,  holidays,  Saturdays,  and  mix 
the  sacramental  wine  with  water.  He  refused  to  accept 
his  father's  rectorate  at  Epworth,  because  he  thouglit  he 
could  be  more  holy  at  Oxford ;  and  because  the  care  of 
two  thousand  souls  was  more  than  he  dared  undertake. 
Afterward  he  had  no  such  fear,  no  such  sense  of  respon- 
sibility ;  he  willingly  kept  tlie  charge  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  souls,  and  the  care  of  all  the  churches. 

The  radical  difference  between  this  first  state  and  the 


382         EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

last  lies  just  here,  —  that  in  the  one  prayers,  sacraments, 
good  works,  and  sacrifices  were  all  performed  in  order  to 
save  his  soul ;  in  the  last  state  they  were  done  out  of 
gratitude  and  love,  because  his  soul  had  been  saved.  His 
soul  was  safe ;  he  was  able  to  trust  his  soul  to  God ;  he 
had  no  more  anxiety  about  it ;  his  heart  henceforth  was 
full  of  joy  and  hope.  He  saw  there  was  no  reason  why 
others  should  not  have  the  same  happiness  with  himself. 
He  had  not  gained  it  by  labors,  fastings,  or  long  religious 
exercises,  but  by  a  simple  act  of  trust  in  the  divine  love. 
Any  one  else  might  do  the  same,  —  might  do  it  imme- 
diately, and  so  pass  from  death  to  life.  In  this  lay  the 
secret  of  the  power  of  Methodism,  —  this  assurance  that 
"  now  is  the  day  of  salvation  "  for  all  mankind.  Nor  can  we 
fail  to  see  that  this  great  change  in  the  inner  conviction 
and  life  of  Wesley  was  identical  with  that  through  which 
Paul  passed  from  Jewish  ritualism  into  the  freedom  of  the 
sons  of  God ;  identical  also  with  that  by  which  Luther 
passed  from  Eoman  Catholic  ritualism  into  the  liberty  of 
the  gospel  of  love.  Three  religious  movements  have  thus 
had  their  oric^in  in  the  same  chanoe  of  conviction  in  three 
human  souls.  In  the  language  of  technical  theology  the 
new  conviction  is  named  "  Justification  by  Faith  and  not  by 
Works  "  ;  but  its  essence  is  below  all  theology,  and  means 
that  the  soul  has  realized  the  immanent  necessary  relation 
between  the  infinite  strength  and  the  human  weakness, 
between  the  divine  love  and  the  earthly  need.  When  this 
experience  has  once  been  felt  in  the  heart,  there  is  no 
longer  any  need  of  priests,  altars,  sacrifices,  or  ritual.  All 
forms  melt  and  dissolve  in  the  fire  of  this  heavenly  love. 
It  is  the  creation  of  a  new  life,  —  and  out  of  this  new  life 
in  one  man,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  his  fel- 
low men  are  made  alive  also.  Whoever  does  not  perceive 
this  has  missed  the  meaning  of  Methodism.     Methodism 


JOHN  WESLEY  AND   IIIS  TIMES.  383 

is  Ritualism  developed  into  a  liij^dier  stage  of  Christian 
experience,  liitualism  is  Methodism  arrested  at  a  lower 
period  of  its  development. 

If  Wesley  had  continued  in  those  religious  convictions 
and  habits  which  he  had  at  Oxford  and  in  America,  he 
would  have  lived  and  died  a  <^ood  and  holv  man,  hut 
lie  would  not  have  lieen  the  founder  of  Methodism.  The 
spirit  of  freedom,  conlidence,  power,  which  carried  him 
triumphantly  on  year  after  year,  would  have  been  wanting ; 
the  courage  would  have  been  wanting  which  led  him  to 
defy  all  difficulties  and  dangers ;  the  inward  peace  would 
have  been  wanting  whicli  made  him  cheerful  and  glad  of 
heart  in  the  midst  of  obloquy  and  opposition,  wlien  the 
timid  good  stood  aloof,  and  the  wise  frowned. 

These  truths  which  are  at  the  root  of  Methodism  make 
up  a  very  large  and  comprehensive  system,  not  composed 
by  an  arbitmry  selection,  but  by  the  action  of  a  loving  soul, 
seeking  for  truth  in  order  to  be  saved  from  error  and  sin, 
and  humble  enough  to  be  taught  by  any  one  who  seems 
to  stand  on  a  higher  ground.  Methodisn]  is  therefore  not  a 
one-sided  system,  not  a  mere  enthusiasm,  but  it  combines 
the  tmths  and  avoids  the  errors  of  many  tendencies  of 
tliouglit.  Wesley  was  fii*st  under  the  influence  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  and  ahvays  retained  a  respect  for  its  venemble 
forms,  its  moderation,  its  anti-Calvinistic  view  of  luiman 
nature,  its  wholesome  etliics.  He  can-ied  out  logically  this 
system  to  the  extreme  of  Puseyism  ;  but  when  he  saw  that 
the  soul  could  not  be  saved  by  any  system  of  works,  but  only 
by  union  with  God  and  by  his  grace  shed  from  on  high, 
he  transferred  to  the  religious  life  after  justification,  the 
ascetic  discipline  which  he  rejected  as  a  viemui  of  justifi- 
cation. He  thus  avoided  the  Antinomian  heresy,  while  he 
exalted  faith  as  high  as  the  Antinomians  have  done.  The 
Churchmen  who  preached  morality  could  nut  but  admit  tliat 


384         EVENTS   AND   EPOCHS   IN   RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

the  Methodists  did  more  to  improve  the  morals  of  the  com- 
munity than  they  themselves  had  ever  accomplished.  The 
next  influence  on  the  mind  of  Wesley  was  from  William 
Law,  whom  he  always  regarded  as  a  man  of  God.  From  him 
he  learned  a  far  higher  standard  of  Christian  character  than 
the  Church  had  given  him  ;  and  though  he  afterward  thought 
that  Law  did  not  set  forth  a  salvation  freely  given  through 
faith,  but  a  refined  and  elevated  legality,  he  adopted  all 
his  views  of  Christian  character  in  his  doctrine  of  Perfec- 
tion,—  putting  after  justification  what  he  believed  Law 
had  put  in  the  place  of  it.  From  the  Moravians  he 
learned  his  doctrine  of  an  inward  assurance  of  pardoned 
sin ;  but  he  rejected  the  Moravian  opposition  to  growth 
in  grace,  and  their  doctrine  of  an  infused  holiness. 
He  always  opposed  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  Abso- 
lute Decrees,  which  he  thus  characterized  :  "  The  sum 
of  Predestination  is  this, —  one  in  twenty  of  mankind 
are  elected,  nineteen  reprobated.  The  Elect  shall  be 
saved,  do  what  they  will;  the  Reprobate  be  damned,  do 
what  they  can." 

§  8.  Methodist  Hymns.  Conclusion.  —  I  must  say  one 
word  at  least  about  the  hymnology  of  Methodism.  The 
Wesleyan  hymns  I  am  inclined  to  put  at  the  head  of  tliis 
literature.  For  depth  of  conviction,  truth  of  sentiment, 
spontaneous  flow,  they  are  nowhere  surpassed  and  rarely 
equalled.  Tlie  hymns  of  Watts  have  a  stately  march ; 
those  of  Doddridge  flow  out  calmly  and  solemnly  from  a 
deep  source ;  the  hymns  of  Montgomery  have  a  poetic 
charm  ;  Faber's  are  like  the  notes  of  a  lark  out  of  the 
depth  of  the  sky ;  such  hymns  as  those  of  Heber,  Bowring, 
Pierpont,  are  typical  of  high  culture  filled  with  religious 
life ;  those  of  Gill  cannot  be  surpassed  in  the  expression  of 
delicate  shades  of  Christian  experience ;  but  for  the  union 
of  love  and  light,  spiritual  insight  and  poetic  freedom, 


JOHN    WESLEY   AND   HIS   TIMES.  385 

there  is  nothing  to  compare  witli  tlie  best  hymns  of  Charles 
^Vesley,  which  spring  pure  and  transparent  like  some 
divine  water  out  of  the  ground  of  Methodist  experience, 
lie  wrote  many  very  prosaic  ones;  some  full  of  contro- 
versy,— hymns  against  the  Calvinists,  against  the  formalists, 
against  dead  Orthodoxy,  ag.'unst  intickdity  in  the  universi- 
ties, against  the  false  doctrine  of  Terfection,  against  the 
"  horrible  decree,"  (as  he  names  one  poem,)  and  hymns  in 
defence  of  the  Trinity ;  but  liuw  tender  are  his  hymns  of 
sympathy,  how  full  of  filial  love  his  hymns  of  supplication, 
how  warm  with  the  very  soul  of  human  brotlierhood  his 
social  hymns !  All  the  events  of  his  life  went  into  song ; 
and  as  Horace  says  of  Lucilius,  so  we  may  say  of  Charles 
Wesley,  that  his  biography  is  in  these  poetic  pictures,  like 
votive  taldets  hanging  on  the  wall  of  a  temple.  One  hymn 
of  trium])h  was  written  by  him  when  escaping  from  a  mob 
who  tried  to  stone  him  ;  another  was  composed  while  going 
to  Wakefield  to  be  tried  /or  treason ;  one  was  on  sending  a 
child  to  a  boarding-school ;  one  w^as  for  a  musician ;  one 
for  a  new-born  child  ;  one  for  mechanics  at  work.  The 
Quakers  did  not  write  liymns,  but  Charles  Wesley  com- 
posed one  which  is  full  of  the  spirit  and  doctrine  of  that 
Society.  No  Quaker  poet,  be  he  Bernard  Barton  or  Wliit- 
tier,  could  have  written  a  better.  I  refer  to  the  beautiful 
hymn  beginning  :  — 

"  Open,  Lord  !  mine  inward  ear ! " 

In  these  Lectures  I  have  endeavored  to  enforce  one  idea 
taught  us  in  history :  namely,  that  no  historic  event  is  so 
important  as  the  advent  of  a  conviction,  of  a  new  truth. 
I  have  tried  to  show  the  power  of  such  convictions  in 
the  human  soul  to  build  up  institutions,  to  change  the 
coui"se  of  events,  and  to  alter  the  tendencies  of  human 
afHiirs ;  and  that,  among  all  convictions,   there   are   none 

25 


386         EVENTS  AND  EPOCHS  IN  RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

SO    strong,    permanent,    and    unconquerable    as    religious 
convictions. 

These  lives  teach  us  that  in  man  there  is  something 
higher  than  sense,  —  a  principle  of  conscience  which  can 
defy  all  earthly  suffering  and  renounce  all  earthly  joy  in 
obedience  to  the  lofty  voice  of  the  soul  within.  They 
make  new  for  us  in  every  age  the  immortal  words  of  the 
Scriptures  concerning  those  who  "look  not  at  the  things 
which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen ; " 
knowing  that  "the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal, 
but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abbeville  manufactures,  333. 

Abbey  of  Citeaux,  159. 

Abbevs,  English,  90. 

Abehird,  208. 

Abolitionists  and  Emerson,  292. 

Abraham,  St.,  ascetic,  ^0. 

Absorption  into  God,  79. 

Advertisements  in  catacombs,  10, 

Affrighted  spirit,  Swcdenborg's 
story,  288. 

Age  of  Augustine  {sect ion,  p.  139). 

Agnes,  St.,  39. 

Agrippa,  Cornelius,  283. 

Agrippa  the  Magician,  277. 

Ajunta  vihara,  71,  72. 

A  Kempis,  Imitatione,  281 ;  liis  in- 
fluence on  Wesley,  352. 

Alaric's  invasion,  140. 

Alberti,  the  Florentine  genius,  220. 

Albert  us  Magnus,  153. 

Albigenses  and  St.  Dominic,  101 ;  in 
13tli  century  {section,  p.  335) ; 
not  Waldenses,  327. 

Alcott,  A.  Bronson,  295. 

Alexander  VI.,  pope,  crimes,  253; 
bribes,  223. 

Allyre,  St.,  abbey,  104. 

Alms-bowls,  Buddhist,  08,  65. 

Alphabet  in  spiritual  world,  286. 

Alumnus  in  catacombs,  42. 

Amana  society,  114. 

Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan,  131, 140. 

America,  Wesley  in  {section,  p.  350) ; 
Geo.  Fox  in,  317. 

American  Martyrdom,  117. 

Anabaptists  at  ^NFunster,  251. 

Anchorites  {section,  p.  84) ;  Bud- 
dhist, 52 ;  supersede  martyrs 
{section,  p.  80). 


Annesley,  Susannah,  Wesley's 
mother,  353. 

Anselm,  archbishop  {lecture  V.); 
allusion  to,  2  ;  Canterbury,  150 ; 
exile,  149-151;  existence  of 
God,  152-154;  meditations  and 
prayers,  14G,  147;  metaphysi- 
cian, 151 ;  work  and  study,  140. 

Anthony,  St.,  80,  117. 

Anthony  of  Padua,  112. 

Antinomians  and  Wesley,  373. 

Antioch  monks,  88. 

Antoninus,  persecution,  10. 

Antwerp  cathedral,  50. 

Aosta,  Anselm's  birthplaee,  143. 

ApoUonius  of  Tyana,  277. 

Apostates,  Hindoo  from  Catholi- 
cism, 269. 

Appian  Wa}',  6-8. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  102,  135,  153, 
1G5. 

Arbitrations  of  Bernard  {section, 
p.  160). 

Arcosolium,  catacombs,  21. 

Architecture,  Buddhist  {section, 
p.  67)  ;  pointed  of  13th  centu- 
ry, 102. 

Arianism,  141. 

"Ark  of  Fugitives,"  Holland.  334. 

Arnold,  abbot,  cruel  order,  337. 

Arrabbiati,  Florentine  party,  230, 
231. 

Art,  daugliter  of  religion,  74. 

Asceticism,  unscrijitural,  83,  87. 

Asia,  Jesuits  in,  2(iG,  271. 

Asoka,  king,  OS;  and  Constantino 
compared,  61. 

Assurance,  doctrine,  362. 

Asureis,  Hindoo,  40. 

Atheism  in  France,  340. 

Atonement,  Anseira  on,  155,  150. 


390 


INDEX. 


Augustine,  Aurelius  {lecture  V.) ; 
allusion  to,  2 ;  character  {sec- 
tion, p.  139) ;  conversion,  131- 
134;  death,  136;  desire  for 
truth  {section,  p.  127)  ;  devotion 
to  Cliristianity,  135 ;  doctrines, 
136;  ideas,  83;  influence,  {sec- 
tion, p.  189);  life,  124-126; 
period  of,  {section,  p.  139) ; 
prophet  of  truth,  123. 

"  Augustine's  Confessions  "  {section, 
p.  123.) 

"  Aurora,"  Boehme's,  281. 

Aurora  community,  114. 

Avdtars,  Hindoo,  49. 


B. 

"  Babylonish  Captivity,"  by  Luth- 
er, 249. 

Bacon,  Roger,  112,  121. 

Bancroft,  the  historian,  on  Fox, 
318,  321. 

Banishment  of  Jesuits,  270. 

Banner  of  Jeanne,  180. 

Baptism,  Quaker  view,  300. 

Barbauld,  Mrs.,  authoress,  345. 

Barclay  the  Quaker,  318  et  scq ;  his 
"  Apology,"  320. 

Barre,  colonel,  the  friend  to  America, 
345. 

Basil,  St.,  14,  93. 

Bartholomew,  St.,  massacre  of,  328. 

Baugency,  French  city,  18G. 

Baville  and  Cainisards,  310. 

Bayle,  on  Luther's  morals,  255. 

Bl'c,  monastery  of,  143,  144. 

Beggar,  Eckhart's  Story,  280. 

Beliar  rock-temples,  69. 

Bt'tk-Jia-haim,  tomb,  8. 

Benares,  city,  47. 

Benedetto,  Savonarola's  disciple, 
229,  239. 

Benedict,  St.,  his  rule  {section,  p,  92); 
the,  "  of  the  East,"  89. 

Benedictine  monks,  294. 

Bengal  temples,  69. 

Benivieni,  Savonarola's  friend,  239. 

Berenger's  heresies,  145. 

Bernard,  St.,  2,  {section,  p.  157);  at 
Citeaux,  159;  a  mystic,  280; 
church  reforms,  252,  253  ;  cru- 
sades, 164  ;  general  reformer, 
131 ;  higher  law,  166,  note  ;  mir- 


acles, 160 ;  rebukes  principali- 
ties, 160-162. 

Berlin  and  Huguenots,  334. 

Bestial  natures,  Fox  on,  305. 

Bediel  community,  114. 

Bhagavat-geeta,  90,  275,  277. 

Bhilsa,  India,  60. 

Bible  in  ourselves,  308  ;  with  dusty 
covers,  anecdote,  371. 

Bichat  the  author,  2. 

Black-death,  plague.  111. 

Blanc,  Mt.,  Luther  compared  to,  256 

Blangdon,  Barbara,  Quaker,  321. 

Bluntness  of  Savonarola,  231. 

Boehler  and  Wesley,  359,  381 

Boehme,  Jacob,  the  mystic,  273, 
275,  276,  281,  293. 

Bologna,  Savonarola  at,  222. 

Boniface  VIII,  two  swords,  253- 

Bonzes,  Chinese,  59. 

Borgia  family,  231,  233. 

Borromeo,  St.  Chas.,  95,  272. 

Bosio,  Antonio,  catacombs,  20. 

Bosquet,  Andrew,  Huguenot,  332. 

Bossuet,  the  preacher,  2 ;  and  Hu- 
guenots,330 ;  as  persecutor,  282. 

Boston,  Huguenot  families,  347. 

Bo-tree,  sacred,  47. 

Bottari,  on  catacombs,  21. 

Bouteiller  on  Jeanne  d'Arc,  208. 

Bowdoin,  Governor,  347. 

Bowring's  hymns,  384. 

Boyhood  of  Lutlier  {section,  p.  241). 

Brahmans  baptized  by  deceit,  268. 

Brahmanism  and  Buddhism,  49. 

Brahm,  nature  of,  277. 

Brandenburg  protects  Huguenots, 
333. 

Broglie,  Count  de,  and  Camisards, 

OOQ 

ooo. 

Buddha,  meaning  of,  47. 

Buddhism  {lecture  III.)  ;  before 
Buddha,  62  ;  Catholic  parallels 
to,  75 ;  Protestant  similarities 
to,  75. 

Buddhist  architecture  {section  p.  67); 
immortality  {section,  p.  75). 

Buckle,  Thos.,  the  historian,  2. 

Buildings,  outgrowth  of  religion,  67. 

Bull  against  Luther,  249 ;  of  Anti- 
christ, 257. 

Buonaventura,  seraphic  doctor,  112. 

Bury,  Portuguese  priest,  59. 

Burke,  author,  2. 

Burney,  Miss,  novelist,  345. 


INDEX. 


391 


Burroughs,  Edward,  Quaker,  321. 
Biisch,  John,  BcMiodictine,  254. 
Bustaini,  the  Ssufi,  277. 


c. 


Cabnla,  Jewish,  219,  275. 

( 'tulmuT,  fiirindc  ac  si,  Jesuit,  2G5. 

Cajetan,  i)a])al  icfjate,  21S. 

Calas  case  of  (sn-tl<»i,  p.  lH:]). 

Calixtus  III.,  pope,  207. 

Calvin,  Jolin,  in  iieaven,  288. 

Camahloli  monks,  05. 

"  Caniisard,"  meaning  of,  337. 

Camisards,  {serdon  p.  335). 

Canonization  of  Savonarola,  240. 

Canterbury,  Ansehu  {s^n'tiou^  p.  149). 

Capuchin  monks.  111. 

Cardinal's  hats  sohl,  238. 

Carlstadt  and  Luther,  251. 

Carmelites,  religious  order,  253. 

Carnival  orgies  in  Florence,  232. 

Carthusian  monks,  05. 

Cassino,  Mt.,  and  Benetlict,  03,  94. 

Catacombs  {Itctuics  I.  and  II.)  ; 
aitnaiia,  5  ;  bttsiUcas  above,  19  : 
Calixtus,  12,  14;  cemeteries,  0; 
chantjes  iu  structure,  13,  14 ; 
cippiis,  (i;  closed,  20;  columba- 
ria, G  ;  cubicula,  5  ;  Diocletian, 
12;  galleries,  4;  general,  4; 
liiding-places,  14  ;  inscriptions, 
8  ct  srtj ;  love-feasts,  10  ;  lumi- 
nari,b;  material,  4;  meaning, 
4;  places  of  worship,  11 ;  publi- 
cations, 20;  retreats,  11 ;  sacred 
places  (section,  p.  18) ;  spiragli, 
5 ;  tufa,  4. 

Cathedral  of  Florence,  224. 

Cathedrals,  English,  67. 

Catherine  of  Sienna,  281 ;  St.,  of 
Persia,  278. 

Catholic  concessions  to  Brahman- 
ism,  2G8  ;  opposition  to  Jesuits, 
2GG. 

Cavalier,  the  Caniisard,  338  et  seq. 

Cecilia,  St.,  10. 

Cedar  Vale  conmiunity,  14. 

Celibacy,  Buddhist.  59. 

Celsus,  ancient  author,  11. 

Cemeteries,  catacombs  (section, 
p.  G)  ;  protection,  10. 

Cemetery,  definition  of,  5,  6. 

Ceylon,  captive,  59  ;  priesthood,  59. 


Chaityas,  or  pagodas,  70. 

Chalons,  bishop  of,  saved  Bernard's 
life,  IGO. 

Chapel,  old,  of  Luther,  247. 

Character  of  Savonarola  (section, 
p.  231). 

Charles  II.  and  Quakers,  322. 

Charles  V.  and  Lutlicr,  249,  250. 

(Charles  VI.  .-ind  dcniuic,  170. 

Cliarlcs  VIII.  invades  Italy  {suction, 
p.  220)  ;  and  Savonarola.  227. 

Charles  IX.  and  the  Carolinas,  34(). 

Ciuirtreuse  convent,  95,  105. 

Chayla,  Huguenot  leader,  337. 

Childhood  of  Jeanne  d'Arc  (section, 
p.  170). 

Children  in  catacombs,  42. 

Children's  work  in  heaven,  286, 
287. 

Chittore  tower,  07. 

Christian  belief,  catacombs  (section, 
p.  38.) 

Christians  called  atheists,  12;  per- 
secutions of,  13. 

Christ's  description  of  his  work 
applied  to  Wesley's,  378. 

Chrysostom,  St.,  141. 

Church,  Christian,  beginnings,  2 ; 
enlargement,  3;  reform  within, 
254  ;  underground,  3. 

Churches  in  heaven,  287. 

Church  of  leaven,  379 ;  mustard- 
seed,  379. 

Cicero,  burial,  7. 

Cistercian  monks,  95,  98. 

(^iteaux  abbey,  9G. 

Clara,  St.,  "seraphic  mother,"  112. 

Clairvaux  abbey,  95,  90  (section, 
p.  157). 

Classes  ot  Jesuits,  265. 

Class-meetings  (section,  p.  304) ;  ori- 
gin of,  374. 

Clay,  Jesuit  as,  205. 

Claypole,  Mrs.,  Cromwell's  daugh- 
ter, 314. 

Clement  XIV.  and  Jesuits,  209. 

Coadjutor."*,  Jesuit,  2G5. 

Coligiiy,  admiral,  and  America,  310. 

Cond)c,  Geo..  Buildliist  ideas,  48. 

romiiies,  IMiilippe  do,  on  Savona- 
rola's sagacity,  240. 

Comte  on  tlieology,  150. 

Confession,  Luther  on,  250 ;  prac- 
tised by  Wesley,  381. 

Confraternities,  burial,  9. 


392 


INDEX. 


Conflict  of  Anselm  with  King  {sec- 
tion, p.  149). 

Conrad,  German  emperor,  164. 

Conservatism  and  radicalism  in 
Wesley,  369. 

Constantine,  emperor,  12, 18,  44. 

Contrast  between  Fox's  mind  and 
soul,  318. 

Convents  begin  (section,  p.  92). 

Conventual  vows,  Buddhist,  52,  58. 

Conversion,  compulsory,  334 ;  of 
Augustine  {section,  p.  131). 

Copyists,  Buddhist  monks,  55. 

Cordeliers,  religious  order,  110. 

Cordova  mosque,  67. 

Corneille  on  heresy,  330. 

Corpse,  Jesuit  as  a,  265. 

Correspondence,  doctrine  of,  286. 

Council  of  Florence,  229. 

Countries,  Buddhist,  49,  58;  Prot- 
estant and  Catholic  contrasted, 
273. 

Court,  Antoine,  revives  Protestant- 
ism, 342. 

Court  of  revision,  Savonarola,  207. 

Courts  of  love,  335. 

Covenanters,  Scotch,  13,  337. 

Creative  intelligence  wanting  in 
Buddhism,  78. 

Crimes  always  mistakes,  348  et  srq. 

Cromwell  and  Fox,  313;  rescues 
French  Protestants,  344. 

Cross,  badge  of  infamy,  21. 

Crusades,  143. 

Crusade,  second,  led  by  Bernard 
(section,  p.  104). 

Crusaders,  111  ;  in  Languedoc,  335. 

Cullen,  author  and  physician,  2. 

Cuttuck  temples,  69. 


D. 


Darjop,  or  pagoda,  70. 

Daille,  M.,  clergyman,  347. 

Dalai-lama,  or  Buddhist  pope,  50, 
60. 

Damasus,  bishop,  139 ;  inscriptions 
of,  19. 

Dancing,  Buddhist,  G4. 

Danle  the  poet,  215,  224;  his  grand- 
son rehabilitated,  229  ;  on  Sts. 
Francis  and  Dominic,  101. 

]\anton,  208. 

Dauphin,  French,  Jeanne,  177  et  seq. 


Davids,  T.  "W.  Rhys,  investigations, 
46,  77,  480. 

D.  D.,  Doniinus  Dens,  catacombs,  41. 

Death  of  Savonarola  {section,  p.  234). 

Debt,  theological,  155. 

De  Breaux,  208. 

Decalogue,  Buddhist,  64. 

Defects  of  Buddhism  {section,  p.  75). 

De  Foe,  345. 

"  Degrees  "  of  Swedenborg,  288. 

Deists  in  France,  349. 

Delhi,  mosque,  67. 

Deluge,  Savonarola,  226. 

Demons,  Buddhist,  65. 

Descartes,  153. 

Descendants  of  Huguenots  in  Eng- 
land, 345. 

Devil  and  virginity,  178  ;  imitates 
Christianity,  59;  Luther's  opin- 
ion of,  259. 

"  Dial  "  magazine,  295. 

Diamond  and  Emerson,  291. 

Didactic  hymns,  385. 

Diet  of  Worms  {section,  p  246). 

Diocletian,  emperor,  134. 

Dionysius  tlie  Areopngite,  279. 

Dissenters  and  Fox,  304  et  seq. 

Divinity,  George  Fox  on,  307. 

Divinity  School  in  Ravines,  342. 

Divodasa,  Buddhist,  49. 

D.  M.,  Diis  Manibus,  32. 

Doctrinal  hymns,  385. 

Doctrine  of  Augustine  {section,  p. 
136). 

Doctrines  in  catacombs,  42 ;  of  Qua- 
kers, 319,  320. 

Documents,  ancient,  concerning 
Jeanne,  168. 

Doddridge's  hymns,  384. 

Domenico,  Savonarola's  friend,  233, 
236. 

Domingo,  St.,  101. 

Dominican  rnonks,  98. 

Dominic,  St.  {section,  p.  98). 

Domitclla,  Roman  princess,  25,  32. 

Dominique  Gerroir,  anecdote,  172. 

Domitian,  emperor,  10. 

Domremy,  Jeanne's  birthplace,  171; 
later  history,  171. 

"  Don  Carlos,"  Schiller,  182. 

Dramas,  Hindoo  religious,  60. 

Dryden,  poetic  quotation,  301. 

Dualism  in  religion,  128. 

Dubois,  abbe',  on  Jesuits,  2G9. 

Duns  Scotus,  112,  153. 


INDKX. 


303 


Dunois,  testimony  to  Jeanne,  181, 

vote. 
Diioino,  Florence,  224. 
Diijciiiloii]),  bishop,  208. 
Dusli-y-aiila,  king,  Ul. 


E. 


Kiirlv  life  of  Lutlier  {srrlion,  p.  211). 
Iv  kliart,  tlie  mystic.  2.s0,  21»:]. 
Kdict  of  Nantes  {siciiun,  p.  •i2C)). 
Kgyptian  monks,  H'). 
Iiiii'fcuosseii,  or  "  coiifeileratea,"  ;J2G. 
Eisleben,  Luther's  iiome,  o42,  361. 
Eleventh     century,     character     of 

(section,  p.  112). 
Elizabeth,  St.,  of  Hungary,  117. 
Ellora  cave,  74. 
Emerson  on  Thorean,  110. 
Emerson,  K.  \V.,  27<J  {srclion,  p.  201). 
English  generals  and  Jeanne,  170. 
English  Methodistn,  .'170. 
English  mystics,  Quakers,  209. 
Epigraphs    in    catacombs    {sectio)i, 

p.  27). 
Ep worth    and    Wesley,   352,    35G, 

857,  381. 
Erasmus    and    Luther,    250 ;     his 

doubts,  251  ;  Luther  on,  2G1. 
Eremite,  or  hermit,  84. 
Eri'.;ena,  scholar,  121,  277. 
I'.rt'urt  university,  212. 
Ermenberge,    m(;ther    of   Anselm, 

14.J. 
Este  family  in  Ferrara,  222. 
Eucharist,  Berenger  on,  145. 
Eugenius,   pope,   Bernard's    letter 

to,  252. 
European    changes    from    Jeanne 

d'Arc   to    Savonarola    (section, 

p.  213). 
Eusebius  on  lay -preaching,  360. 
E.xile  of  Anselm  (section,  p.  14'J). 


F. 

Faber,  Peter.  2G4. 

Face  of  Buddiia,  54. 

Faculties,  four  of  Buddhist  schools, 
54. 

FU-IIeen,  Chinese  traveller,  G3. 

"  Failure  of  Protestantism  "  criti- 
cised, 242. 


Fairies,  Jeanne,  173. 

Faith-justification,  its  place,  383. 

Faith,  Wesley's  definition,  .'jGl. 
Wesley  on  (stctiun,  [).  35G). 

Fakirs  in  India.  01. 

Family  of  Luther.  243. 

Faueuil.  I'eter,  348. 

Fasting,  Fo.x  on,  IM. 

Father  Hue  (section,  p.  50). 

Father  of  tieorge  Fo.x,  313. 

Faustus  and  Augustine,  130. 

Feast  of  Flowers,  Buddhist,  5.3. 

Fenelon,  bishop  (stctiun,  p.  282),  270; 
against  persecution,  331. 

Fergusson  on  Hindoo  temples,  08- 
74. 

Ferrara,  Savonarola's  birthplace, 
221. 

Feudalism  (section,  p.  157)  ;  new 
definition.  158. 

Ficino  Marsilio,  a  Catholic  Platon- 
ist.  218. 

Field-preaching  (section,  p.  3G4) ; 
made  needful,  3G4. 

Fifteenth  century  wonders,  242. 

Firmin,  Unitarian,  and  Wesley,  .'>03. 

"Flint  and  gun,"  nanieanecdote, 
348. 

Florence,  the  beautiful  city,  223. 

Fontenelle,  poem  on  "  Kevocation 
of  Edict  of  Nante8,"  330. 

Fo,  or  Buddha,  57. 

Forgiveness  of  sin,  243. 

Formula  of  I^uddhistic  novices,  64. 

Founder  of  Quakerism  (section,  p. 
301). 

Fox,  George  (lecture  X.),  281 ;  char- 
acter (section,  p.  317) ;  e.xperl- 
ences  (section,  p.  301 ) ;  influence 
(section,  p.  317)  ;  not  interested 
in  great  events  of  his  age, 
318. 

France,  condition  in  fifteenth  cent- 
ury (serfiun,  p.  1(57)  ;  injured 
by  persecution  of  Huguenots, 
340. 

Francis,  St.  (section,  p.  98) ;  birth, 
108;  characteristics,  100;  visit 
to  sultan,  1 11. 

Franciscan  monks,  98. 

Fraticellians,  11 1. 

Frederick  the  wise.  244. 

Frederic  of  Saxony,  240,  250. 

Free  thought,  jirinciplu  of,  273. 

Free-will,  Luther  on,  251. 


394 


INDEX. 


French  academy  and  Huguenots, 

330. 
French  generals,  Jeanne  d'Arc,  168. 
Friars,  begging,  111 ;  rapid  increase, 

111, 
Friendship,  pagan,  35;   Augustine 

on,  130. 
Friends,  society  of  {lecture  X.). 


G. 

Garrick,  the  actor,  345. 

Gall,  St.,  monastery,  93. 

Gaunilo  and  Anselm,  153. 

Gelu,  archbishop,  179. 

General  of  Jesuits,  265. 

Gengis  Khan,  102. 

Gerson,  scholastic  doctor,  153. 

Ghaut,  India,  73. 

Gibbon  the  historian,  12. 

Gibson  on  Ambrose,  140. 

Gill's  hymns,  385. 

"  Glendower,"  Shakespeare  quota- 
tion, 200. 

Gnostics,  128. 

"  Godly  Club,"  Wesley's,  355. 

God,  nearness  of,  297. 

Goethe,  124. 

Good  Shepherd,  catacombs,  40. 

Gothic  invasion,  140. 

Gottheil,  Dr.,  on  Luther's  Bible, 
260. 

Graves,  adornment  of,  16. 

Great  souls  belong  to  church  uni- 
versal (section,  p.  165). 

Greek  epigram,  271 ;  literature, 
214. 

Grote  as  a  hellenist,  219. 

Grotius,  Hugo,  154. 

Guarini,  Indians  and  Jesuits,  267. 

Guatama,  images,  67. 

Guicciardini  on  Savonarola,  238, 
239. 

Guion,  Mme.,  276,  (section,  p.  282.) 

Gaison-tarnba,  or  chief  lama,  51. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  wars  of,  251. 


H. 

ITalhead,  Myles,  Quaker,  321. 
Hallani  on  friars,  100. 
Hardy y^Spence,  on   Buddhism,   59, 
63,  65,  80. 


Harlots  and  Geo.  Fox,  312. 

Hats,  wearing.  Fox,  309. 

Heaphy,  picture  of  Christ,  25. 

Heaven  of  Swedenborg,  285  ;  Hin- 
doo, 62. 

Heber's  hymns,  384. 

Hegel  the  philosopher,  153,  282, 
293. 

Heine  on  Luther's  Bible,  260. 

Hell  quenched,  story,  282. 

Hemans,  C.  J.,  on  Kome,  39. 

Henry  VIIL,  king,  119. 

Herbert,  George,  276. 

Hereafter,  Christian  idea  of,  36. 

Herluin,  Norman  nobleman,  148, 
144. 

High  Churchmen,  the  Wesleys,  381. 

Higher  law,  218. 

Hilaire,  St.,  on  Buddha,  76,  77, 
79. 

Hikleshiem  convent,  254. 

Hildebrand,  pope,  142,  145. 

Hindoos  and  Jesuits,  268. 

Hirzel,  Dr.,  estimate  of  Jeanne 
d'Arc,  209. 

Historians  on  results  of  Huguenot 
persecutions,  349. 

History  compared  to  subterranean 
evolutions,  1  ;  of  Quakerism 
(section,  p.  32). 

Hitchcock,  general,  a  mystic,  276. 

Hodgson's  Sanskrit  scriptures,  75. 

Holland,  Fox  in,  317. 

Homes,  Buddhist,  56. 

Horace,  Latin  poet,  2  ;  on  Lucilius, 
applied  to  Chas.  Wesley,  385. 

Horses,  paper,  Buddhist,  55. 

"  Hortensius  "  of  Cicero,  127. 

Hospitality,  Buddhist  convent,  53. 

Hour  and  Man,  255. 

Huber,  John  and  sons,  naturalists, 
332. 

Hue,  father,  in  Tartary,  51-58. 

Huguenots  (lecture  XL). 

Hugnon,  326. 

Humanity,  Buddliist,  76. 

"  Humble  Bee,"  Emerson's,  292. 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von,  on 
Basques,  262. 

Huss,  John,  115,  255. 

Hutton,  author,  2. 

Hymns,  384 ;  as  biographic  pic- 
tures, 385  ;  of  Lorenzo  de  Med- 
ici, 218  ;  of  Methodism  (section, 
p.  384). 


INDEX. 


395 


Ilypatia  of  Alexandria, 
JJi/jKxjeum,  catacombs,  0. 


T. 


Icarians,  soot,  1 14. 

Iconoclasiu  of  Florentine  children, 

2:V2. 
Idolatry,  Luther  on,  247. 
'IX^y's   (iktiius,    "fish")     in    cata- 
combs, 42,  43. 
Illuminalism,  Loyola,  204. 
Imitators  of  Emerson,  2'J3. 
Impartial  jud.i,Mnont  needed,  241. 
Incarnation,  Huddlia,  57. 
Independence  in  Emerson,  203. 
Indian  opinion  of  Christians,  anec- 
dote, 'A')S. 
Indid,  Hindoo  {jod,  40. 
Indulirences,  intention  of,  250;  sale 

of  (fiction,  p.  24t)). 
Industry    of    French    Protestants, 

32cS'. 
Influence    of     Aucfustine     (section, 

p.  139). 
Inner  litjht,   Quakers,  318,  (section, 

p.  305)). 
Innocent  II.  pope,  105. 
Innocent  III.  and  Langnodoc,  330. 
Innocent  VIII.  ])apal  sins,  223  ;  his 

children,  25^J. 
Inquisition  and  Loyola,  264. 
Inquisitors    and    Waldenses,    328; 

and  Jeanne  d'Arc,  200. 
Inscriptions  in   catacombs,   28-37  ; 

burial  {.•itrdon.  p.  27)  ;  Latin,  41 ; 

King  Asoka's,  (section,  p.  01). 
Inspiration  and  Satan,  104. 
Intoxication,  Huddhist  dislike,  64. 
"In  vain  sliall  Kome,"  poem,  240. 
Invocations  of  saints,  2ij0. 
Itinerancy,       Methodist        (section, 

p.  373) ;   when  essential,  373, 

374. 


J. 


Jaina  sect  in  India,  74. 

Jain  tower,  07. 

Jeanne  d'Arc  (lecture  VI.)  ;  armor, 
200;  convictions,  174;  death, 
lO'J;    dilliculties,   176;    execu- 


tioner's remorse,  200;  insults, 
201  ;  old  documents,  168;  por- 
traits and  statues,  20'J;  pris- 
oner sohl  to  Enj^lish,  100,  (sec- 
tion, p.  100)  ;  sources  of  inform- 
ation (section,]}.  107);  sources 
of  power,  207;  trial,  101-108; 
tributes  to  her  virtue,  100.210- 
212;  victories,  184;  "Voices," 
200,  201. 

Jerome,  St.,  83,  88,  139;  visit  to 
catacombs,  10. 

Jesuits  (hctttre  VIII.);  and  Chris- 
tianity, 270. 

Jesus  a  Jew,  250 ;  at  Nazareth,  308. 

Jews,  Luther's  opinion  of,  250; 
protected  by  Bernard  (srction, 
p.  104). 

John  XX III.,  pope  crimes,  253. 

Jones,  Sir  William, Sanskrit  scholar, 
80. 

Jowett,  Prof.,  as  a  Hellenist,  219. 

Julian  the  Apostate,  134. 

Julius  IL,  pope,  his  offences,  253, 
254  ;  his  impious  praj'or,  248. 

Justification  by  faith  (section,  p. 
244);  defined,  244;  misunder- 
stood, 245  et  seq ;  preached  by 
Paul,  Augustine,  Luther,  Wes- 
ley, 303. 

Justin  Martyr,  10. 

Juvenal,  the  poet,  on  virtue,  34. 


K. 


Kant,  the  philosopher,  on  God,  153. 
Karli  ten)ple,  68,  (50. 
Karnac,  temples,  07. 
Karmn,  or  fate,  78,  80. 
Knowled<,^e  and  inspiration,  141. 
Knox,  Robert,  captive  in  Ceylon,  50. 
Kounboum,  Cliina,  52,  54. 
Kouren,  Buddhist  convent,  51. 
Kujiler,  author,  25. 
Kylas,  or  Kailasa,  temple,  74. 


"  Lady  Poverty "  of   St.   Francis, 

101,  100. 
La  Fontaine  on  heresy,  330. 


396 


INDEX. 


Lamb,  Chas.,  on  Quakers,  324. 

Lamb,  emblem,  25. 

Lamas,  or  Buddhist  monks,  50. 

Lamaseries,  or  monasteries,  51. 

Lanfranc,  prior,  144,  145. 

Language  of  heaven,  285. 

Languedoc,  its  name,  336. 

La  Pucelle,  208. 

Lassa,  regent  of,  51. 

Latin  manuscripts,  216. 

Lauras,  for  monks,  88. 

Laurens,  Henry,  347. 

Law,  Wm.,  the  mystic,  276. 

"  Law's  Call,"  282. 

Lawyers,  Fox  on,  307. 

Lay-preaching    (section,    p.     364) ; 

how  necessitated,  368  •  in  older 

times,  369. 
Laynez,  Peter,  264. 
Leather  clothing  of  Fox,  312. 
Lecky  on  raonasticism,  85,  92. 
Lee,  Ann,  founds  Shakerisra,  112; 

imprisonment,  115. 
Leo  X.  and  Luther,  248. 
Lessons    of    monasticism     (section, 

p.    117);     of    these    lectures, 

386. 
Letter  to  the  pope  about  Savona- 
rola, 235. 
Lihertas,  41. 

Liberty  and  Protestantism,  274. 
Lily  of  France,  poem,  211. 
Litchfield,  Fox's  denunciation,  311. 
Liturgy,  Buddhist,  54. 
Livingstone  the  traveller,  117. 
Lombard,  Peter,  135. 
London,  Huguenots  in,  334. 
Lord's  Prayer,  Luther  on,  262. 
Lord's     Supper,   Luther    on,   251 ; 

Quaker  rejection  of,  300. 
Loire,  campaign  of,  Jeanne,  186. 
Louis,  St.,  king,  112. 
Louis   Xn.,   coins    against  Eome, 

254. 
Louis  XIV.  and  Fenelon,  282;  and 

Huguenots,  330. 
Loyola,  Ignatius,  2,  (lecture  VIII.). 
Lunenberg,   duke    and   bishop    of, 

254. 
Luther,    Martin,    2,     105,     (lecture 

VIIL);  and  Calvin,  both  Au- 

gustinians,     139;     in    heaven, 

288. 
Lyons,  trade  lost  with  Huguenots, 

333. 


M. 

Macarius^'^t.,  85. 

Macaulaf  on  Jesuits,  266. 

Madras  temples,  69. 

Mcujna  Charta,  102. 

Maha-wanso,  Hindoo,  60. 

Maitland,  on  catacombs,  21. 

Malcolm,  Rev.  Howard,  on  Bur- 
mah,  76. 

Maniacs  cured  by  Fox,  310. 

Mammoth  Cave,  comparison,  44. 

Manicheans,  sect,  128. 

Mani,  his  religion,  128. 

INIanu,  laws  of,  89,  90,  275. 

JNIarchi,  padre,  21. 

Mareotis,  Jewish  convent,  85. 

Margaret  of  Cortona,  112. 

Marie,  St.  de  Vauverts,  102. 

Mark,  St.,  convent,  224. 

Marlino,  the  hermit,  95. 

Marion,  American  general,  347. 

Marriage  of  Luther,  251. 

Marrjat,  captain,  novelist,  345. 

Martineaus,  Jas.  and  Harriet,  345. 

Martyrs,  atonement  by,  86  ;  in  cat- 
acombs, 12,  13;  their  courage, 
14;  their  enthusiasm,  15;  rev- 
erence for,  16. 

Martyr-age  in  catacombs,  44. 

Massillon  and  Huguenots,  330. 

Materialism,  Geo.  Fox  on,  306. 

Mather,  the  Scotcli  Methodist,  372  ; 
at  Wolverhampton,  375. 

Maurice,  Fred.,  on  Quakerism, 
324. 

Maxfield,  Thos.,  lay-preacher,  369. 

Maya,  Hindoo,  277. 

May-tree  and  Jeanne  d'Arc,  94. 

Mazarin,  cardinal,  on  Waldensian 
loyalty,  328. 

Medhurst  on  Chinese  religion,  59. 

Medici  family,  217  et  seq. 

Medici,  Lorenzo  di,  absolution  re- 
fused, 225. 

Medici,  Pictro  di,  227. 

Medicine,  Buddhist,  54;  Geo.  Fox 
on,  307. 

"  Meditations  "  of  Savonarola,  237. 

Melancthon  and  Luther,  261 ; 
"  Commonplace  Book,"  261. 

Mendelssohn  on  Luther's  German, 
261. 

Mendicant  friars,  100;  orders  of 
(section,  p.  98). 


INDEX. 


397 


IVrerlts  of  HiuMliism  {srdion,  p.  75). 

Merovinj^iiiu  epoch,  120. 

Metaphysics  of  Aiisehn  (section, 
p.  151). 

Metempsychosis,  57. 

Methodism  (l>rlure  Xll.);  founded 
by  s(;h()hirs,o53;  melhod.s  (s)c- 
tiun,  p.  o()l)  ;  spread  of  {section, 
p.  377). 

Methodists  conipari'd  to  friars,  100. 

Michael,  St.,  Jeanne  d'Arc,  173. 

Mii'hel-An^'elo,  HIS. 

Michelet,  historian,  on  .leanne,  180. 

Military  prowess  of  Jcainie,  1H!S. 

Mihnan,  the  historian,  HM ;  on  Do- 
minican cruelty,  'j'M. 

Milton,  soiniot  on  Vaudois  persecu- 
tions, 345. 

Ministerial  functions,  Fo.v,  303. 

Mirandola,  Pico  di,  the  great 
scholar,  210,  230. 

Missionaries,  Buddhist,  48;  Jesuit, 
205. 

Mission  of  Jeanne  {section,  p.  175). 

Mobs  in  Florence,  234. 

Moehler,  Catholic  on  Quakers,  223. 

Monasteries  among  Buddhists  {sec- 
tion, p.  07). 

Monasticisni  {Icrtures  III.  and  IV.) ; 
amonix  Hindoos  {srclinn,  ]>.  80)  ; 
among  Buddhists  {stction,  p. 
03) ;  begins  {strtion,  j).  84)  ;  de- 
stroyed by  I'rotistantism,  115; 
suppression  of,  118-122;  ten- 
dency among  Protestants  {sec- 
tion, p.  112). 

Monograms  in  catacombs  {section, 
p.  21). 

Monolithic  temples,  68,  G9,  74. 

Monns,  or  solitary,  84. 

Monotheism,  early,  in  catacombs, 
42. 

Montalembert  on  Monasticism,  83, 
120. 

Montbelon,  baron  of,  232. 

Montes(}uieu,  author,  2. 

Montgomery's  hymns,  385. 

Montrevel,  marshal,  and  Cami- 
sards,  341. 

Morals  of  Luther,  Catholic  idea, 
255. 

Moravian  preacher,  357. 

Moravians,  establi.-^hment  and  mis- 
sions, 112,  (siction,  ]).  350). 

More,  Henry,  author,  270. 


Mosaic  books,  Lutlicr  on,  2G2. 

Mouhnein,  Burmah,  pagodas,  GO. 

Mummies,  Kgyptian,  3;  (Jliddon's 
mistake  al>out  a  princess,  3. 

Municipal  government  of  Savona- 
rola, 220. 

Munster  Anabaptists,  251. 

Mysore,  India,  200. 

Mysticism  {Urlnrr  IX.). 

MuUer,  Max,  on  Buddhism,  40. 


N. 


Names,  French,  translated,  348. 
Nardi,  the  historian,  on  Savonarola, 

235. 
Nati<jns,    Protestant   and  Catholic, 

compared,  271. 
Nco-]i/(itonists,  21ij,  270. 
Nepaul,  city,  40,  75,  70. 
Neri,  St.  Philip,  05,  202. 
Nero,  emperor,  12. 
Neufchateau,  French  village,  171. 
New  York  Huguenots,  340. 
Nicholas  of  Basel,  mystic,  281. 
Nicknames  of  Huguenots,  320;  of 

Methoilists.  354. 
Niruamt,    Hindoo,   47,    58,    70,   80; 

during  this  life,  80. 
Nitron,  desert,  monks  of,  88. 
Noah's  Ark,   Savonarola's  sermon, 

226. 
Nobili,  Robert  de,  missionary,  268. 
Nobility,  French  and  Jeanne,  17H. 
"Noble  Lesson,"  Waldensian  book, 

327. 
Nominalism  and  realism,  215. 
Nordhoff  on  separatist  societies,  114. 
Northcote  on  catacombs,  2,  34,  38  ; 

on  Trinity,  40,  43. 
Novalis,  the  philosoplier,  276. 
Novices,  daily  life  of  Buddhist,  64 ; 

Jesuit,  205. 
Nuns  resist  a  bishop,  254. 
Nidic  (liiiiiliis,  the.  quoted  against 

Huguenots,  330. 


O. 

O.Ttbs,  O.  Fox  refuses,  315  et  seq. 
Obedience  of  Jesuits.  204. 
Obscrvaiits,  onler  of  monks.  111. 
Occam,  the  Iheolou'ian,  153. 


398 


INDEX. 


Ocean-preaching,  Wesley,  366. 

Old  age  of  Wesley,  377. 

Olivers,  Thos.,  Methodist,  372. 

Oneida  Perfectionists,  114. 

Opposition  to  Jesuits,  270 ;  to  Meth- 
odism {section,  p.  375), 

Orange,  William  of,  gets  English 
throne  by  Huguenot  help,  334. 

Oratory  of  Jesus,  religious  order, 
272. 

Order  in  religion,  Wesley,  366. 

Orders  of  Buddhist  monks,  58. 

Ordinances  outgrown  by  Wesley, 
366. 

Organization  and  conviction,  272. 

Original  sin,  Augustine  on,  138. 

Orleans,  French  city,  178  ct  seq. 

"Orphic  Sayings,"  Alcott,  295. 

Osborne,  the  monk,  147. 

Oude,  kingdom  of,  46. 

Outline  of  this  book  (section,   p.  1). 

"  Over-soul,"  Emerson,  293. 

Oxford  and  religion,  355 ;  Wesley 
at  {section,  p.  351). 


P. 

Pagan  epitaphs,  33. 

Pagodas  in  Kandy,  59. 

Paley,  arclideacon,  on  clerical  im- 
morality, 380. 

Pampeluna,  Loyola  at,  262. 

Pantheism  in  Emerson,  294;  Hin- 
doo, 277. 

Pantheon,  67. 

Paracelsus,  277,  283. 

Paraguay,  Jesuits  in,  267. 

Parents  of  Fox,  301. 

Pascal,  Lettres  Provinciales,  270. 

Pastoral  monks,  52. 

Patriotic  sacrifices,  103. 

Paul,  St.,  teachings  applied  to  Bud- 
dhism, 81;  his  "third  heaven," 
285;  at  Virgil's  tomb,  215; 
pawner's  bank,  Florence,  229 ; 
Peasant  wars,  251. 

"  Peas,  boiled,"  story,  56. 

Peers,  English,  descended  from  Hu- 
guenots, 345. 

Pelagius  and  Wesley,  563. 

Penn,  Wm.,  318,  {section,  p.  319). 

People  in  heaven,  Swedenborg,289. 

Perfection,  doctrine,  362,  364. 


Periods,  5,  of  catacombs,  43,  44. 

Perret,  M.,  on  catacombs,  21. 

Persecution  desirable,  87 ;  of  Meth 
odists,  372. 

Perugia,  city,  108. 

Peruvian  bark  discovered,  267. 

Peter  of  Ailly  on  church  reform, 
253. 

Peter,  St.,  in  catacombs,  38. 

Petrarch  the  poet,  215. 

Philae,  or  cloisters,  85. 

Piagnoni,  or  "cry-babies,"  231. 

Pictures  in  catacombs  {section, 
p.  21). 

Pierpont's  hymns,  384. 

Pilgrims  in  catacombs,  43. 

Pio  Nono,  pope,  208 ;  concordat  of, 
119. 

Place  de  la  Pucelle,  poem,  211. 

Plato  and  Augustine  (section,  p.  131). 

Plotinus  the  mystic,  278,  279,  293. 

Plumbata,  or  scourge,  39. 

Poem  on  Jeanne  d'Arc,  by  Maria 
Lowell,  211. 

Poggio  the  bibliophilist,  216  et  seq. 

Policy  and  truth,  illustrated  in 
Luther  and  Loyola,  273. 

Poliziano  the  scholar,  220. 

Polycarp,  death,  10. 

Pompeii,  buried  city,  3. 

Porcelain  pagoda,  67. 

Porphyry  the  mystic,  279. 

Power  and  aim,  the  two  halves  of 
human  felicity,  377. 

Practice  is  knowledge  —  Savona- 
rola, 225. 

Prayer  of  Luther,  258,  260 ;  of  pope 
Julius,  248  ;  public  vocal  Bud- 
dhist, 58. 

Prayer-books,  Buddhist,  55. 

Prayer-mills,  Buddhist,  56. 

Prayers  of  Jeanne  d'Arc,  172 ;  for 
the  dead,  31. 

Preachers  of  Methodism  (section, 
p.  375). 

Predestination,  Calvin  teaches  in 
heaven,  288. 

Present  salvation,  382. 

Priests,  vagabond  Buddhist,  51. 

Primitive  Christianity,  not  monas- 
tic, (section,  p.  82). 

Prinsep  on  Buddhist  inscriptions, 
71. 

Proclus  the  mystic,  279. 

"Professed"  Jesuits,  265. 


INDEX. 


309 


Promethean  fire,  metaphor,  141. 

Promises,  Jesuit,  2(10. 

Prote.stantisin  "exchided  "  and  "  in- 
cluded," 25:>;  in  Southern 
France  {section,  p.  .■3;J5) ;  of  Asia, 
54;  monastic  tendiiKy  in,  112. 

Protestants  before  Luther,  2lo. 

I'rovincials,  .lesuit,  205. 

I'rudence  for  Providence,  78. 

Prudentius  on  catacomhs,  13 ;  on 
tombs,  lU. 

Psahiis  of  David.  74. 

I'toleiiiy,  monk's  letter  to,  85. 

Purgatory  in  catacombs,  37 ;  Luther 
on,  250. 


Q. 

Quakers,  12,  {lecture  X.)  ;  impris- 
oned, 315  et  seq.  ;  Sweden- 
borg's  dislike,  281). 

Quicherat,  Jules,  on  Jeanne  d'Arc, 

107. 


R. 

Rabia. Persian  mystic,  poetic  legend, 

278 

Rachettc,  Rnoul,  21. 

liadclifU',  Mrs.,  novelist,  345. 

Itailegund,  wife  of  Clotaire,  120. 

Rangoon  pagoda,  67. 

liansom,  tlieological,  155. 

Ranters,  sect,  and  G.  Fox,  312. 

Rapp,  founder  of  "  Economy  "  com- 
munity, 113. 

Rappists,  sect,  114. 

Rationalism,  mystic,  287. 

Rebukis  of  Bernard  {section,  p.  IGO). 

Recantation  of  Savonarola,  238. 

Reiolleets,  order  of  monks.  111. 

Reformation,  Catholic  opinion  of, 
252;  outruns  Luther,  250. 

Reformers  before  Luther,  23l>. 

Refuge  ill  catacombs,  44. 

Reigu  of  Terror,  340. 

Reims,  city,  Jeanne,  180  et  saj. 

Relic-box,  Buddhist,  61. 

Relics,  I^uther  on,  250. 

Ju/it/io  livita  in  Rome,  10. 

Religion  of  Sakya-Muni  {section,  p. 
4(5). 

"  Religious  "  wars  in  Germany,  251. 


Rcmusat  on  Anselm,  155. 

Reseml)lance8  between  Buddhism 
and  Kdinanism  (stdion,  p.  51»). 

Itenaissance  in  Kurope  (lecture 
VII.  ;  section,  p.  213). 

Republic  of  Klorence,  232. 

Revocation  of  Ldict  of  Nantes  {sec- 
tion p.  830). 

Ricci,  Jesuit  general,  200. 

Kobes,  Buddhist  sHcred,  54. 

Robinson,  archbisliop,  dialogue 
with  Wesley,  370. 

Rock-cut  temples  {section,  p.  67). 

Rodolph,  Monte,  1(»4. 

llonia  Sutl(riinea,  20,  32. 

Rome,  Luther's  visit,  248;  taken  by 
Alaric,  20. 

Rosaries  and  Jeanne,  102. 

Rossi,  l)e,  2  ;  inscriptions  in  cata- 
combs, 27,  28,  32. 

Rouen,  city,  213. 

Rousseau,  125. 

"Ruin  of  Church,"  poem  by  Sa- 
vonarola, 222. 

"Ruin  of  World,"  ditto. 

"  Rule"  of  Augustine,  120. 


S. 


Sabellians,  sect,  137. 

Sabinus,  St.,  86. 

Sacraments  in  catacombs,  40  ; 
seven,  Luther  on,  250  ;  Wes- 
ley's first  view,  .381. 

Sacramental  salvation,  245. 

Safe-conduct  lor  Jerome  and  lluss. 
249. 

Saints  of  Middle  Ages,  276. 

Saint-worship  towards  Savonarola, 
230. 

Sakya-Muni,  birth,  46. 

Sales,  St.  Francis  de,  272. 

Salvation  not  justification,  244. 

Salvati(m  by  iaith,  3r)l  ;  by  justifi- 
cation, 244  ;  by  legal  sacrifices, 
245;  by  morality,  215. 

Sankara,  Hindoo  ])hilosopher,  277. 

Sii)ik-hija-l\itriktt,  275,  277. 

Satire,  poetic  on  church,  368. 

Savonarola  {lecture  VII.),  2,  253; 
and  Bernard,  221  ;  early  life 
{seeiiiin,  j).  221 ) ;  failures,  255 ; 
forbidden    to    preach    (.st>t7/t»/j, 


400 


INDEX. 


p.  239)  ;  imprisoned  {section, 
p.  233)  ;  opposition  {section, 
J).  230) ;  ordeal  {section,  p.  283)  ; 
sermons  {section,  p.  221). 

Sclielling,  282. 

Schiller's  "  Maid  of  Orleans,"  170. 

Scliolastic  Jesuits,  205. 

Science  in  catacombs,  44 ;  of  Swe- 
denborg,  289. 

Secret  of  Methodism,  363. 

Self-distrust,  Jeanne  d'Arc  and 
Luther,  260. 

Self- mortification  in  religion,  138. 

Self-reliance  and  God-reliance,  293. 

Series  of  gods,  78. 

Seringapatam,  Hindoo  apostates, 
269. 

Sermons  of  Luther,  247  ;  of  Savon- 
arola, 230 ;  curious  specimen, 
225. 

Servus,  a  slave,  41. 

Sems,  archbishop  of,  161. 

Sevigne,  Mme.  de,  on  dragoon  con- 
versions, 334;  Huguenots,  330. 

Sewall  on  Geo.  Fox,  304,  317. 

Shakers,  sect,  114 ;  chief  of  Protes- 
tant celibates,  113. 

Shaving,  Buddhist,  63,  64. 

Siddartha,  Buddhist,  47. 

Siege  of  Orleans  {section,  p.  179). 

Signatures  of  Jeanne  d'Arc,  172. 

Sigourney,  Andrew,  348. 

Silence,  Buddhist,  53. 

Simon,  St.,  117. 

Simon  Stylites,  86;  outgrown,  91. 

Simplicianus,  Christian  teacher, 
132. 

Sites  of  Buddhist  monasteries,  52. 

Sixtus  IV.  and  Florence,  254  ;  pa- 
pal children,  223. 

Smith,  Adam,  2. 

Sociability  in  religion,  82,  83. 

Solitude  in  religion,  82. 

Solomon's  magic,  283. 

Souls  of  women.  Fox  on,  303. 

Soul,  power  over  body,  15-17. 

South  America,  Jesuits  in,  267,  269. 

Sovereignt}'^  of  God,  138. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  anticipated  by 
Buddhism,  81. 

Spenser,  poetic  quotation,  73. 

Spinoza,  151,  282. 

Spirit  of  Buddhism  {section,  p.  75). 

"Spiritual  Exercises"  of  Loyola, 
264. 


Spirituality  of  Brahmanism,  78. 

Spiritual  naturalism,  291. 

Ssufis,  Persian  sect,  275-277,  293. 

"  Staff,"  Jesuit  comparison,  265. 

Stake,  Savonarola  at,  238. 

Stars  and  clouds,  Luther  on,  258. 

Staupitz,  Luther's  friend,  244. 

"  Steeple-houses,"  G.  Fox,  309. 

Stigand,  archbishop,  145. 

Stoning  of  George  Fox,  312. 

Stories,  absurd,  about  Wesley,  375. 

Strength  of  Luther,  257. 

Study,  letter  on  ministerial  need  of, 
Wesley,  371. 

Stupas  or  topes,  Buddhist,  60. 

Subhadda,  the  last  disciple  of  Bud- 
dha, 80. 

Subiaco  and  St.  Benedict,  93. 

Superstition  about  Jeanne  d'Arc, 
188. 

Suso,  the  mystic,  281. 

Swedenborg  {section,  p.  282). 

Switzerland,  Huguenots  in,  333. 

Symbols  of  Christ,  25-27,  38-40. 


"  Table-talk  "  of  Luther,  260. 

Tacitus  on  Christianity,  12. 

"  Take  up  and  read,"  revelation  to 

Augustine,  243. 
Talks    with    spirits,   recorded    by 

Sw^edenborg,  286^ 
Tanjore  pagoda,  67. 
Tartary,  monks  of,  50. 
Tauler,  the  mystic,  275,  281,  293. 
Teachers,  Jesuits  as,  266. 
Tea-parties,  Buddhist  religious,  55. 
Tennyson  on  mysticism,  poem,  298. 
Teresa,  St.,  272. 
Tertullian,  catacombs,  14,  15. 
Tetzel,  the   seller  of  indulgences, 

247,  248. 
Thaumaturgists  {section,  p.  282). 
Thaumaturgy,  277. 
Theological  schools  and  Fox,  314. 
Theology  in  catacombs,  40-45;  of 

Anselni    {section,    p.    151);    of 

Augustine  to-day,  138,  142. 
Thibetian  monks,  50. 
Thierry  on  St.  Radegund,  120. 
Thirteenth  century,  events  of,  102. 
Thoreau,  Henry,  the  naturalist,  116. 


INDEX. 


4Ul 


Thorpe,  Jolin,  tlie  Methodist,  072. 

'i'lireefohl  tbrimihi,  liudJhist,  01. 

Tilly,  wars  of,  2ol. 

Tipplinj;  and  CJeorpe  Fox,  302. 

Tippoo  Sahib,  prime,  2(51>. 

Tobacco,  Fox  on,  302. 

Tolerance  of  Wesley,  302. 

Tombs,  number  in  catacombs,  o8. 

Topes,  Indian,  )'>S. 

Tortures  of  Savonjirola,  2;j7. 

Traticdy  of  lite.  211. 

Trajan,  emperor.  10. 

Transition  peri"o<l  in  Ital}',  221. 

Transcendental  utterances.  2'.t5. 

Translation,  Luther's  IJible,  2G0, 
2(J1. 

Transubstantiaiion,  Fox  on,  314; 
Luther  on.  2-")0. 

Tree  and  fruits,  liuddhist,  48. 

"Tremblers,"  or  (^ujikers,  311, 

Trench,  archbisiiop,  o4-">. 

Trinity,  a  mystery,  137  ;  in  cata- 
eonjbs,  40,  41;  Loyola  sees, 
204. 

Tripilikd,  or  triple-basket,  48. 

Tritheists  and  Trinitarians.  1^>1. 

Triumphal  arcl),  Constantine's  in- 
scription, 18. 

Troubadours  in  Lanjruedoc,  o05. 

Troy.  Schliemann's  discoveries,  4. 

Troves.  French  city,  180. 

Truth  like  seed,  :37'8. 

Tiiiiiitliis.  stiijxi,  (ir  mound.  70. 

Types,  Luther  and  Loyola,  272. 


u. 

Umbrellas  in  worship,  06  ;  in  stone, 

Underixround    railroad.    Huguenot 

C(Mnparison,  •>>2. 
Universe      nnsujiported,     Luther's 

vision,  258. 
Ursuline  nuns,  272. 


V. 


Vnlerian.  emperor,  1o. 
Vatican,  relics  of  catacombs,  28. 
Vaucoulers.  town.  Jeanne.  177. 
T' </<(;./«/,  Hindoo,  277. 


]'f(liix,  Hindoo.  -10,  71. 

V'enantius,  Fortunatus,  troul)adour, 

120. 
Very,  Jones,  270,  {section,  n.  2U1); 

sonnet,  2'.I0. 
Victor,  Hugo,  the  scholastic,  280. 
Victoria,    queen,    descended    from 

Huguenots.  340. 
VUuii-d,  or  Huddhist  monastery,  05, 

71. 
Villari  on  Savonarola,  228. 
Villars,     nuirshal.    and    C'amisards, 

341. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  order  of,  272. 
Vinclantl.  town,  1 14. 
Virgil  a  Christian.  215. 
Virgin  Mary  ami  llilili-brand.   145; 

in  catacombs.  27,  30;  defendi'd 

by  I..oyola,  203 ;  Loyola's  vis- 
ion, 204. 
Vischnu,  49. 
Vi.sigoths,  140. 
Visions  of  Jeanne  (spction,  p.  170); 

Swedenborg,  2b3. 
Visitants,  ordi-r  of,  272. 
"Voices"  of  Jeanne,  180. 
Voltaire,  2  ;  and  case  of  Calas,  343. 
Vows  of  Buddhist   moid<s,  01,   00; 

Christian  ascetics,  'J3, 


W. 

Waldenses,  sect,  320. 

Waldo,  Peter,  320. 

Wallenstein.  wars  of,  251. 

Wallon  on  Joan  of  Arc,  1G8,  187. 

Walsh,  Thos..  Irish  Methodist,  376. 

Wandering  Jew,  51. 

War  a  negative  good,  100. 

Wartburg  castle,  Luther  at,  250. 

Warwick,  earl,  lUO. 

Watts's  hymns,  385. 

Weduesbiiry, Wesley's  courage.  375. 

Weslev,  Charles,  conversion,  35U. 

Wesley,  John,  2.  (Icrtnrc  XII.); 
creator  of  souls,  378 ;  change 
from  ritualism  (sertiou,  p.  380) ; 
inrtuence  (section,  p.  377;  ;  new 
system  (sreiion,  p.  301);  par- 
ents {section,  p.  351). 

Whitefield  in  Anierica,  358. 

Whittier.  .323;  poem  on  Quaker 
Meeting,  325. 


